Rekindling
by Nashville1211
Summary: Rayna and Deacon facing everything that has happened and trying to find where they stand together.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok so this is my first fan fiction ever! I would love for ya'll to give it a shot and review if you like it :) Let me know if you would like me to continue! P.S. this takes place in the present so everything that happened already happened in this story. I don't mean to copy anyone's ideas so if I do I don't mean it. Okay, I'll stop talking now!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, sadly...**

Ryna is laying in bed thinking about everything that has happened before the accident and how her life is right now. She's going to join Luke's tour. Oh, there is a thought, Luke. She likes him, he is different and she's happy that he kissed her, but something is missing. She doesn't know what is missing but she knows that it doesn't feel as good as it does when Deacon kisses her. Why is she thinking about him right now? Every time she thinks of someone kissing her he comes right into her mind. Okay she needs to stop now before the feeling that maybe she's lost him forever gets too strong and she won't be able to sleep again. The alarm clock read 12:30 and she should probably be asleep by now since she has to wake up early to get the girls to school. So she turns over and closes her eyes but then Megan pops into her head. She's probably lying in his bed right now and he is keeping her warm and all Rayna wants is to be there with him. Rayna can see that she makes him happy and it kills her. Her stomach starts to close up and she can feel the tears coming so she tries to get the thought of Deacon and Megan out of her head. She gets up and goes down the hall to Tandy's room and gets into the bed with her because she feels like being with her sister can maybe help her forget about Deacon. Tandy wakes up and turns to Rayna.

"What's wrong babe?"

"Nothing, I just can't sleep."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Okay so Luke kissed me." Tandy looked at her with wide eyes, "what?"

"Yeah, he did and it's keeping me awake." She decided to lie.

"Well you can just have a fling, it doesn't have to mean anything, right? Unless you want it too."

"I guess so, I don't know, I don't know where Deacon and I stand right now. Well he is dating his lawyer so I guess we are over, especially after I gave him the ring back; but now that I think about it I don't know why I did that."

Tandy smiles at her sister knowingly, "not this again…"

"Not what again?"

"Every time someone walks into your life you just think of Deacon and how amazing your love is, you still love him, I can see it in you eyes."

"I DO NOT!" she was in full denial. "YES YOU DO!"

"Ugh, Tandy! Stop making this harder for me. Can we not talk about them, I'm sorry I brought it up." "Ok babe, as you wish but you should really sort through all of this after you wake up in the morning."

"Can I sleep here?" Rayna asked pleadingly. "Of course you can." "Thanks babe, I'm glad I'm staying at your house." "I'm glad you're here too." They smiled at each other and then giggled as if they were little girls again. "Okay, go to sleep you need your beauty sleep!" Tandy exclaimed. "Ok, mom!" They both laughed and soon fell asleep. Before Rayna fell asleep she imagined Deacon was next to her and that everything as it should be, or as she hoped it would be.


	2. Chapter 2

Ok so this is my first fan fiction ever! I would love for ya'll to give it a shot and review if you like it . Thank you for the follows and reviews hope you like this chapter too!

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters

Chapter 2:

Rayna woke up to the smell of coffee filling the room and she looked at the nightstand it was 9:30! She had over slept.

"Tandy?! Did you take the girls to school?" Panic filled her voice.

"Yes I did don't worry!"

"Okay, thanks for that." Rayna sighed, with relief.

Tandy handed her coffee and Rayna smiled and thanked her.

"You have a text from Bucky. I didn't mean to look at your phone but I heard a phone go off and I found it in your room." Rayna took the phone.

Text: call me when you wake up we need to talk about the tour.

Rayna called him.

"Hey Buck, what's up?"

"I'll be there at ten we need to talk about the tour and Luke is coming too."

"Okay see you soon. Bye."

Rayna got up took a shower applied a little makeup and put a light blue sundress on with white flats. Her hair was wet so she let it down to dry. When she walked downstairs Bucky and Luke were already there. Luke looked her up and down and gave her a secret smile and she smiled back. Tandy gave Rayna a look and Rayna ignored it.

"Morning! What are we talking about?"

"The tour starts in less than a week so we should discuss set lists and wardrobe and Scarlet's songs." Bucky said.

Rayna was taken aback and felt overwhelmed all of a sudden she hadn't really thought through everything and it took her a minute to reply.

"Well I think I'm going to do the same set list as the tour I was on with Juliette."

Luke said, "That's great, do you want to do any of the old stuff? I could sing them with you I know all of yours and Deacon's songs. The audience would really appreciate it."

"No, why would I want you to sing the songs we wrote? They are ours." That came out more defensive than she had thought it would.

Luke had a surprised expression, "So-rry" he stammered.

Bucky and Tandy looked from Luke to Rayna, feeling awkward.

"Sorry I didn't mean it like that I think I need to sort through everything." Rayna walked out of the room and went to sit in her with no clue on where she would go.

Deacon's house:

Deacon woke up and looked down at the head resting oh his shoulder. Black hair covered his arm and he wished that it was lighter and reddish instead. He suddenly felt guilty because he was thinking of Rayna. He looked at the hand lying on his chest and he didn't feel any electricity radiating from it. He felt legs entwined with his but he didn't feel any buzzing in his body that would want to wake her up and love her. If he had felt something, as he would with Rayna, he would be kissing her and waking her up and she would giggle and hug him and turn around to kiss him good morning. The kiss would of course turn into more than just kissing and he would roll on top of her and actually make their morning. He missed her a lot and it was at times like these when he wanted and needed her; but he was tired of waiting and going after her. If she missed him then she could chase after him.

He decided to get up and take a shower to clear his head. He then made coffee and while he was filling two cups up he felt arms wrap around him and a kiss on his cheek.

"Good morning, how did you sleep? I didn't wake you, you looked so peaceful."

"I slept amazingly well." Megan smiled at him and he handed her the coffee. He wished he could have told her the same thing but that would be lying.

"Good, are you going to the office today?"

"Yes, I have to leave in about an hour."

"Why don't you take a shower and I'll make us some breakfast."

"That sounds wonderful, do you want to join me?" she flashed him a smile. Usually he would say yes but since he had showered he didn't feel like going through the process again. The truth was that he wasn't at all in the mood.

As Megan walked away she realized that something was wrong, maybe he was thinking about HER again. She couldn't blame him; she missed her husband a lot too.

When she was done with her shower, they had breakfast and she left, leaving Deacon alone with his thoughts. He went to pick up his guitar and played some easy keys, it caused him a lot of pain but it felt better than it had right after the accident. After playing for about twenty minutes he decided he needed some fresh air so he got his keys got in his car and drove to the bridge with the little park next to it.

When he got there he saw someone standing in the middle of the field. Someone tall and slim with a blue sundress and red hair. He smiled a smile that was only for her and he jumped the wall, the leaves he landed on made noise and she turned around. It took her a split second to realize who it was and then she smiled, reflecting the smile he had on his face. She walked towards him…


	3. Chapter 3

**A huge thank you to everyone that is reading and reviewing. I want to give a huge shout out to my friend who proof reads these for me even though she doesn't watch Nashville, I LOVE YOU! This week's episode was adorable! It was definitely one of my favorites, but I have a feeling it won't be long lived, unfortunately. Anywayyyy….**

**Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.**

Chapter 3:

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Rayna was so surprised to see him but very happy at the same time. He looked really good she thought to herself. He was wearing the usual flannel shirt and jeans and his hair was damp from the shower and he hadn't shaven. If I could just kiss him right now I would, she thought. Then she caught herself staring and looked down at her feet.

Deacon smiled knowing that she had been staring because she had missed the answer. He thought she was cute when she wanted to be unnoticed. "I needed some fresh air, why are you here?" he repeated and chuckled.

She was blushing when she looked up knowing that she had been caught. "I needed to sort through my thoughts." She paused, "everyone is talking about the tour to me and all I can think about is that we just got out of the accident and that maybe I need to be here for my girls instead of singing to sold out arenas."

Deacon gave her a reassuring smile, "the girls will be fine and you will be fine. You have done this before and you shouldn't give up this opportunity because of the accident." Rayna was looking at him and she believed him, he always made her feel sure of herself but now she couldn't act on it, he was with Megan.

"Thank you for saying that. How is Megan?" she decided to change the subject not wanting to talk about herself anymore.

"She's good, she has been helping me." That shot a dagger through Rayna's heart. She wanted to be the one to help him and she needed him to help her.

"I'm glad," she faked a smile and Deacon could see right through it but decided to act as if he hadn't. "Have you been playing any guitar?"

"I was playing right before I got here actually." Rayna's phone rang then and she answered.

"Hey Tandy…. yes, I'm fine….. ok I'm coming back home." "Sorry about that," Rayna apologized to Deacon. "I need to go um finish the meeting, I kind of just escaped." She laughed.

Deacon smiled, "that's fine, it was nice to see you."

"Yeah, nice to see you too." They smiled at each other realizing how nice it was to talk again. Then she passed him and her hand brushed his by accident and she stopped moving for a second and they looked in each other's eyes, both feeling the shock from that simple touch. Rayna looked down, walked towards her car, stopped, looked back and smiled. "I'll see you soon."

Deacon smiled, "yeah see you."

While Rayna was in the car she realized how much that touch had affected her, and their hands had only brushed. She really missed him and seeing him had made her happy. When she got home she opened the door and walked into the kitchen where her sister, Bucky, and Luke were still standing. "Hey, sorry about that, I feel better now. I guess everything just hit me at once but there isn't a doubt in my mind anymore." No one caught the double meaning. She had realized that Deacon missed her too and that had given her so much hope.

Bucky smiled at her, "I'm glad to hear that. So we are just going to have the same set for you and I think the same wardrobe. I'll try to make this as easy as possible for you."

"Thanks, Bucky. I don't know what I would do without you." Then Bucky and Luke got up to leave. Rayna hugged both of them and Luke kissed her cheek, she barely noticed. When they left she walked back into the room and Tandy gave her a skeptical look.

"When you left you were all jumpy, and you come back and your calm and happy; so I'm guessing you saw Deacon?"

Rayna hid her face with her hands, "yes I did see him and yes I am happy and calm."

"Ha! I told you, you loved him!" Tandy said triumphantly.

"Yeah, I do love him and talking to him opened the box I have been trying to keep closed. There is no way to do that anymore, especially because he knows about our daughter."

"So what are you going to do?" "I don't know Tandy. I can't just run up to his porch and tell him I love him again. I'm just going to see what happens." Tandy smiled and decided not to push it any further. She just wanted Rayna to realize that she needed Deacon.

Later that afternoon:

Rayna opened the door to Maddie's room.

"Hey, are you okay? You seem kind of out of it."

"Yeah, I am. Dad is getting married again and I'm happy for him but at the same time I don't want to be left out."

"Oh honey, you won't be left out. Daddy loves you and will always love you don't worry about that." Rayna hugged her daughter.

"Something else is on my mind too." "What is it?" "I want to have a relationship with Deacon. I want to talk to him about the music and I want him to want me in his life." Rayna smiled because it made her happy, she just had to make sure Deacon wanted that too. "I'll talk to Deacon about it. You are right you two should definitely have a relationship, I'm sure he wants one too." Maddie smiled at her mom satisfied with the answer. "When did Deacon kiss you the first time?" Rayna laughed and felt all warm because she thought about Deacon's kisses. Then she stopped herself because her daughter was in the room and it was inappropriate to feel that way when she was here. "The first time he kissed me was about a week after he wrote A Life That's Good. He asked me to go to dinner with him and I agreed. Deacon's definition of dinner was in the middle of a field on a blanket. He had made lasagna and brought it with him. While we were eating it started raining and so I was rushing to pack everything up and I saw that he wasn't doing anything, just looking at me and laughing. Deacon likes the rain. I laughed with him and sat down and then he grabbed my wrist and kissed me." Maddie smiled and noticed the far away look Rayna got and how happy talking about Deacon made her. "That is really cute." "Yeah, it was." Rayna smiled back at her daughter and then they both laughed. "Okay, I'm going to leave you so you can do your homework. I'm glad you asked me that." "Thank you for opening up to me and telling me." They smiled at each other and Rayna walked out.

She went to her room and lay down on her bed, reliving the memory again. When Deacon kissed her the first time it was like a million butterflies erupted in her stomach and she felt every inch of her body buzzing. She had kissed him back and put her arms around his neck and his hands found a comfortable place around her waist. They had stayed like that for what felt like hours. It had felt so right to kiss him and neither wanted to let the other go. Deacon finally pulled back for air and they both smiled at each other, knowing exactly what the other one was feeling. When Rayna came back to reality she found herself smiling and daydreaming about how his kisses made her feel. How they could just make her happy, how a simple touch could drive her crazy and set her skin ablaze. She wanted to feel that again she wanted Deacon and the need for him was driving her crazy, especially after their talk today. As all daydreams begin, they end too and reality hit her. The reality that he didn't want that right now hit her. The reality that he wasn't thinking about her right now hit her and a tear rolled down her cheek. She had no idea how Deacon had done this for all the years she was married and just the thought of him being in pain killed her. She definitely needed to do something, she just had to wait for the right time.

**Since I can't thank the guests for their reviews in a private message I'll thank you here :) THANK YOU!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for the follows and the wonderful reviews, it means the world to me! Yes, this chapter does end with a cliffhanger. I like those and if you don't PLEASEEEE let me know :) I think the next chapter will be up tomorrow or maybe later. I'm writing it now so we'll see :) they will find each other in the same place in the next chapter. Okay I'll stop talking now :) **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, unfortunately. **

It has been three days since Rayna saw Deacon and today was the night of the show. She hadn't had time to talk to him about Maddie yet because of all the preparations for the tour. Lucky for her the first show was in Nashville and then they would have a three day break before the tour really started up. Scarlet and Luke would have the stage most of the time. She was only going to sing five songs.

After the encounter in the park Deacon had gone home and made dinner for Megan. Deacon loves that she is sweet and understanding and that she is really helping him but he doesn't want to lead her on because he doesn't think it will last. 'I have to break it off with her. It's not fair of me to be thinking of being with Rayna while I'm with her. Megan will find a guy that will hold her heart again, it's just not me because mine is taken.' He thought to himself. It was true his heart had been taken that night so many years ago when he had seen Rayna at the Bluebird the first time. 'I'll tell Megan how I feel at dinner.' When Megan got to his house they had had dinner and then they were sitting on the couch and he said, "I need to tell you the truth Meg. I feel horrible for leading you on this long because I honestly don't think this is going to last forever. I'm telling you this now because I don't want to hurt you anymore than I already have." Megan gave him a sad smile but she understood completely. "It's okay Deacon, you deserve happiness, you deserve to be with the person you truly love. I have lived with the love of my life and it was the happiest years of my life. You didn't hurt me, I knew that this was going to end like this. I could see it in you that you were never truly with me." He hugged her and gave her a kiss. "Thank you for understanding. You have helped me a lot and I will be forever grateful for that. I hope we can be friends?" "Yes we can definitely be friends." They smiled at each other and then Megan had left. Deacon hadn't done much the next two days and he hadn't told Rayna he had left Megan, he hadn't even called Rayna.

The morning of the show at Tandy's house:

"Morning girls!" Rayna said as she was filling them two bowls of cereal.

"Morning." They replied still half asleep. Rayna laughed and went on, "okay so Daddy is going to pick you up after school today and you will be at his house till the day the tour starts because he will be going on his honeymoon and he wants to spend time with you before he goes." Maddie and Daphne needed in response.

Maddie asked, "will we be going on tour with you this time too? The first actual show is on a Friday so maybe we could spend the weekend on tour with you."

"Hmmm. That could work actually and then you girls can just come back with aunt Tandy Sunday evening."

Tandy walked in the room, "hmm?" Daphne told Tandy the conversation and Tandy agreed.

"Yayyyyy!" Daphne exclaimed and they all laughed.

After Rayna took the girls to school she went back home and Tandy was there.

"Rayna?" "Yes?" Rayna walked into her bedroom where her sister was. "I was looking for a pair of shoes to borrow in this box that you hadn't opened and I found this." Tandy was holding up a shoe box that didn't contain shoes in it. Rayna took the box from her sister, "yeah, what about it?" Rayna was acting as if she didn't know what was in it. Tandy gave her sister a look, "I opened it and that's really cute what you have in there." Rayna sat on the bed and her sister sat next to her. Rayna opened the box and took out ten pictures of her and Deacon. She has kept them because sometimes when she missed him she looked at them. Her favorite was one of them hugging and Deacon was grieving her a kiss on the cheek and she was smiling. It was of when they were together and it symbolized their happiness and closeness. The box had also kept the ring he had given her, the one she gave back to him not too long ago. "What I don't get is why you have two keys in there?" Rayna laughed. "That's for me to know and for you to find out. Wanna guess? I mean it's pretty obvious next to these pictures." Tandy picked up the pictures and smiled because they were so cute. Then she realized what one key was. Her mouth fell open and she looked at her sister "Oh my God! Are these the keys to the house he bought, your dream house?" Rayna smiled and her eyes were full of melancholy, "yeah, one of them is." Tandy have her a smile, "and the other one?"


	5. Chapter 5

**THANK YOU ALL FOR THE MESSAGES! Y'ALL MAKE MY DAY! The song in this chapter is I Can't Unlove You by Kenny Rogers. I think it says what Rayna is feeling. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the song used. **

"This key is for Deacon's cabin." Rayna tightened her lips. "Realllyyy? You have a key to his get away?!" Tandy exclaimed. "Mhmm yeah I do, I took it when we were together because when we were younger we used to meet there sometimes and I never have the key back." "Wow babe! Your sneeky." Tandy and Rayna laughed. "Yeah I am! I miss that cabin sooo so much! It was our get away, where we could be alone and love each other freely without interruptions." Tandy gave her a compassionate smile. "I know babe. You can always go up there it's only an hour away and you have a key!" "You are right! I think I will go up there after the show and I can have three days to relax by myself." Rayna smiled and hugged her sister. They both laughed. "You know you could come with me." "Yeah I could but I'm busy this weekend and I think you need some time to yourself." "I don't think you'll have as much fun here but okay I'll go by myself." Tandy left the room leaving Rayna alone. Lyrics to a song had been dancing in her mind for forever and so she wrote them down. She was thinking of singing it at the show and so she went downstairs and played the song with the piano and it sounded great.

She called Bucky, "Hey ummm do you think it will be possible to get a piano on that stage tonight? I wrote a new song and I would love to play it." "Yeah we'll make it happen. You know the show is going to be on live television right?" "Yeah I know. I still wanna sing it." "Okay I'll see you in a half hour so we can head to the arena." "Okay see you soon."

When Rayna got to the arena she walked on the stage and saw that Scarlet was sitting in the seats and she walked up to her and sat next to her. "I'm so scared! Are people going to like me? Are they going to like my songs? My style?" Rayna smiled. "Don't worry sweetheart they will love you. Who wouldn't love you? You're adorable and your songs are great. The important thing to do is never loose yourself in this business and most of all to have fun." Scarlet smiled back, "I already did my sound check and I was shaking like a leaf but I know I'll be fine after the first song. After I see everyone here." "that's the spirit! Do you know if your uncle Deacon is coming?" Rayna had to ask her. "My uncle has been really weird, he broke it off with Megan and I have no idea if he is coming. I think he wants to be alone for a while and he misses being on stage. I'm sure he will watch it on TV though." "Oh okay, thanks for the update." They both laughed. Relief flushed through Rayna. He broke it off with Megan! Maybe I have a chance now. She was also glad that he wasn't going to be there because the song she was singing was going to send a straight message and if he was going to be in the audience there was no way she could sing it. She wanted him to hear it though because she wanted him to get the clear message so she was glad he was going to watch it on TV. Also, she didn't want him to know she was going to his cabin and he would probably ask why she had a backpack with her. "We should get ready now. Come on." They walked down together and went into their dressing rooms. Rayna was going to wear a simple black V-neck dress that went to her mid thigh. It wasn't tight it flowed nicely over her. She wore high silver heels and her hair was down in beautiful curls. Luke then walked in. "You look beautiful." "Thank you." Rayna smiled. "Okay, so Scarlet is going to go first then I'll go and then you'll take it home." Rayna laughed, "that's a lot of pressure for one gal with only five songs." Luke laughed too, "you'll pull it off! You always do." Rayna smiled, "thank you. Now go! Get ready!" Luke smiled and left.

Scarlet and Luke were perfect and now it was Rayna's turn. She sang her four songs and left the new one for last. Deacon was home watching the whole thing and thought she looked beautiful. Then all of a sudden a piano was rolled in and he was surprised. Rayna laughed, "y'all might be wondering what all this is for." the audience cheered and rayna crinkled her nose. "I wrote a new song and no one has heard it yet. It hasn't even been recorded. The lyrics had been dancing in my mind for a while." Rayna sat at the piano and continued, "sometimes not everything turns out the way you hope for and when it doesn't and you loose people you love, you miss them a lot." Deacon braced himself for what was coming. Get to it already he thought to himself. The first few notes started to fill the arena. And Rayna started singing.

"Postcards and letters

And pictures made to last forever

To be boxed up and tossed away

Knickknacks and souvenirs

In an afternoon, they're out of here

They'll disappear without a trace

But what they mean to me

Can never be replaced"

Rayna thought of the pictures she had re-seen today and memories flashed in front of Deacon's eyes.

"I can't unthink about you

I can't unfeel your touch

I can't unhear all the words

Unsay all the things

That used to mean so much

I wish I could unremember

Everything my heart's been through

I'm finding out it's impossible to do

Oh, it's no use

I can't unlove you"

The honesty of the words hit Deacon. He remember the feeling her touch gave him, and he shuddered. He remember all the times they said I love you to each other. he knew she still loved him

"Interstates and old songs

Like time they go on and on

I guess I could learn to do the same

I could wake up without you

These two arms not around you

Tell myself it's meant to be this way

No matter how I try somethings I can't change"

They both thought about their road trips and all their songs. He missed her arms around him and he missed not waking up with her. She missed waking up with him too. They were both emotional and Rayan was trying not to loose it on stage.

"I can't unthink about you

I can't unfeel your touch

I can't unhear all the words

Unsay all the things

That used to mean so much

I wish I could unremember

Everything my heart's been through

I'm finding out it's impossible to do

Oh, Oh, it's no use

I can't unlove you"

They could never un love each other it wasn't possible, it wasn't in them, they didn't have the strength to walk away.

"I wish I could unremember

Everything my heart's been through

And finding out it's impossible to do

Oh, oh, it's no use

I can't unlove you"

The song ended and Rayna had tears in her eyes. She missed him so so so much and she hoped he missed her too. He did miss her and he wanted to run to her right away but couldn't she had to find him. He started pacing. He didn't want to run to her and comfort her, and he needed to get away if that's what he had to do, he was going to go to the cabin.

Rayna thanked her audience and then ran to her dressing room and cried till she heard the door open. It was Bucky. Thank God it's not Luke she thought. Bucky walked towards her and hugged her. "You need to tell him how you feel." "I know I do. I'm just so confused. I'm going to the cabin, I have the key. If someone asks where I am just say I went home." "Okay text me when you're there so I know you're safe." "Thanks Buck. I will text you as soon as I open the door."

Then Rayna got in the car and drove to the cabin. Deacon hadn't left his house yet, so Rayna arrived there first. She texted Bucky and Tandy, letting them know that she was safe. She opened the door and inhaled and then sighed. It smelled like wood and just how she remember it. She walked around and then went to turn on the water and electricity. When it was on she walked to the bedroom and dropped on the bed. She laughed remembering everything that had happened on that bed, everything she wanted to happen again. She opened the drawer of the dresser and Deacon's scent filled her lungs. She took of her dress and slipped one of his shirts on. It went to above her mid thigh. She opened the next drawer and the smell of her old perfume came out. She was shocked. Some of her clothes were still there. He hadn't thrown it out she thought. He wanted to keep me here. She smiled at the thought of Deacon looking through her clothes to remember her. Then she heard a car outside and she walked to the window. Deacon's car was outside and he was getting out. She went to the door and opened it. "What are you doing here?" He asked. "How did you get in?" He was surprised to see her in his shirt. "I-I-I'm sorry I'll leave. I have a key that's how I got in." She walked inside to go change back into her clothes and stopped when he said, "stop, Ray. I heard your song." She turned around. "I miss you Deacon I miss you so much and I love you. I can't fight it there is no way I'm fighting this; but I'll give you time." She turned her back towards him but stopped when she felt arms around her and kiss on her neck. "You aren't going anywhere. I'm going to keep you here and show you that I love and miss and need you too." He whispered into her ear. She giggled and turned around. "Mmmm I can't wait." He kissed her with such a force that she stumbled backwards. Their bodies were already reacting to each other and she wrapped her arms and legs around him as he carried her to the bedroom.


	6. Chapter 6

**I want to thank everyone for reviewing and reading my story! :) I agree with some of you, the relationship did go pretty quickly, but I feel that's how their relationship is in the show. I hope you'll like this chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.**

**Chapter 6:**

Deacon set her down in front of the bed and they smiled at each other. "Are you upset that I came here with out asking you? I know it's your cabin and I had no business in coming here." "It was a little weird to see you here but I don't mind. I guess this is yours in a way too because of all the time we spent here." Rayna stepped on her tippy toes and kissed him lightly in response. He pulled her closer and intensified the kiss. She slowly pulled his shirt off and ran her fingers down his back. He smiled against her lips and pulled his shirt off of her and ran his hands up her back all the while kissing her. He unclasped her bra and slid it off her arms. She undid his belt and slid it out of the loops. He sat her down on the bed and removed his boots and pants before pushing her down and kissing her. She giggled when she felt that he was ready for her too and decided to push his boxers off. He laughed and slid her panties off as well. He kissed his way up her body till he reached her lips and stopped. Rayna squirmed, "what is it?" "Nothing, you're just beautiful is all." Rayna blushed and looked down. "It's true, you have nothing to be ashamed of." Rayna smiled, "the only person I want to please is you. Now get on with it, I'm getting impatient here!" Deacon laughed and gave her what she was asking for. Rayna moaned at his response and their breathing and movements became one. They both felt so satisfied and so happy.

After they were done Rayna lay on top of Deacon with her head nestled in his neck, one hand in his hair and the other on his heart. She could feel his heart beat and the rhythm relaxed her. Deacon was stoking her hair with one hand and drawing lazy circles on her back with the other. She kissed his neck softly, "this feels so right." She sighed. "Yeah, it really does. I missed you." She lifted her head and kissed him and then lay her head back down. They both felt so absolutely relaxed that neither one of them wanted to move. She heard him say, "I love you." She mumbled, "I love you too." He knew she was about to fall asleep from her soft reply. He smiled and let her fall asleep. He felt the familiar buzzing along his legs that were entwined with his and felt electricity radiating from where her hand was and it spread throughout his body. There was no place or no one that would ever make him this happy. He was so relaxed and happy that he soon fell asleep too.

They both woke in the same position they fell asleep in. Rayna woke up first and she smiled as she realized where and who she was with. She lifted her head up and looked at Deacon's face, she slowly allowed her lips to touch his. He stirred a little and she knew he would wake up. He opened his blue eyes and smiled when they connected with hers. "Morning," she whispered. He kissed her and mumbled good morning back. They felt as if they were back in time, when this was their normal routine. She kissed him again wanting to be closer to him than she already was and he intensified their kiss once again. They didn't need to say anything else because their bodies were doing the talking for them, once again ready to show the other how much they loved them. This was a routine that they had mastered perfectly. It always went the same way when they were at the cabin it was as if it had been set in stone since the first time they had gone there. Deacon rolled on top of her and continued what her soft morning kiss had started.

Afterwords, Rayna lay her head on his shoulder, "wanna get up? I'm hungry and I have been craving those toasts that you make. With ham and cheese and eggs." Deacon chuckled, "yeah I'm hungry too. You worked up my appetite." Rayna laughed and they both got up. Deacon got a clean shirt and put it on and then slipped on his boxers. Rayna put his shirt back on and took out pyjama pants she had brought and slipped them on. They both walked to the kitchen and Deacon went to the door to get the groceries he had brought. He handed one bag to Rayna and they put everything away.

"So that song you sang last night, I liked it," Deacon opened the cupboard and pulled the pan out. "I was trying to send a message," she smiled at him and took out two glasses and filled them with orange juice. He laughed, "I don't know how much clearer you could have gotten." "Last night and this morning I think made it clearer," she replied wittily. He laughed, "mhm, there is no doubt in my mind now," he kissed her cheek. She smiled and went to take out the cheese and ham and eggs from the fridge and brought them to him and he took out the bread. She set the table in the time that he was making breakfast. Everything was where she remembered it to be and she was surprised at how she hadn't forgotten. She then made coffee and brought it to the table and Deacon brought the two plates with him.

While they were eating he said, "I think we should talk about what it is we are doing here. Are we together now? Do you want that? What about Maddie?" Rayna hadn't realized that what had happened last night changed everything. She hadn't thought of the consequences. "I um, I don't know. I didn't really think this through. Of course I want us to be together but I don't know if this is the right time. Maddie said she wanted to see you and that she wanted you to be part of her life. She wants to know if you want that too." "When will it ever be the right time Ray? We always run away from our problems and when we finally do get back together, new problems arise. Last night I realized that I want to be with you and only you. Of course I want Maddie to be part of my life!" Rayna felt guilty for the past thirteen years. She felt guilty that Deacon hadn't known about Maddie, "Babe I don't want you to be angry with me. I'm just trying to sort through all this. Maybe this is the right time, maybe we can finally be together. I feel so guilty for not telling you about our daughter. I want you to have a relationship with her too. I don't have any other secrets, you officially know everything there is to know about me so I think we can start something definite now." His voice was filled with hope, "so, you're saying we're together?" "I love you and I want to be with you so yeah I guess we're together. I want to keep this relationship as quite as possible, if you agree. I think we need to test the waters more carefully this time." He leaned over the table and kissed her, "I agree with you, we should definitely take it slow this time." Rayna smiled, "are our definitions of slow the same, because I was thinking veryyyy slow." Deacon gave her a questioning look, "does that mean I don't get to have you in my bed, because I wouldn't be to happy about that." Rayna gave him a wicked smile, "no, I can be in your bed, but only for sleeping." Deacon rolled his eyes, "okayyy, let's see how that goes. Something tells me that you'll be the one to break your little rule." Rayna rolled her eyes too, "I think it's the other way around." She then leaned over the table and kissed him. He replied, "I guess we'll have to wait and see." She replied, "the looser has to buy the winner a new pair of cowboy or girl boots of their choice." Deacon chuckled, "that works." "We have to take it seriously though. Promise?" She stretched out her hand and Deacon brushed it out of the way and kissed her instead, "I promise." Rayna smiled and continued kissing him. He pulled back and Rayna pouted. He said, "I want to win those cowboy boots!" Rayna was still pouting and her voice sounded like a little girl's, "it was only kissing though." Deacon thought she looked so cute and he kissed her nose, "mhmmmm and we all know where that leads." Rayna laughed and got up, "yeah we are going to do a bad job at this game." She carried the dishes to the sink and Deacon rapped his arms around her and kissed the back of her neck lightly, "yeah we are." She was starting to relax but realized that if she gave in she would loose, he was just tricking her. She pushed him away with her elbows, "uh uh uh. I know what your trying to do, but I want those cowgirl boots." He stepped back and she looked over her shoulder and they laughed.

"Anything you want to do today pretty lady? Besides stay inside near the fire?" He knows me like the back of my hand she thought. She had always loved staying inside near the fire with Deacon. They would sit there for hours talking about everything and nothing at the same time. She shook her head, "no staying inside with you sounds good." Deacon kissed her cheek and started drying the dishes. "Oh um by the way, I can stay here today and tomorrow if you want because the tour doesn't start till after after tomorrow. Teddy has the girls but they will come on tour with me for the weekend and then Tandy will fly back with them." He laughed, "wow, I get to spend three days with you? What did I do to deserve that?" She smiled, "I ask myself the same thing all the time. What did _I_ do to deserve **_you_**? You are the only man that makes me happy and that makes me feel beautiful just by looking at me. I honestly don't deserve you after the pain I put you through when I didn't wait for you and when I lied to you." She was almost crying so he stopped what he was doing and hugged her, "I put you through a lot too Ray. I know we cause each other pain but we bring each other so much happiness too and I don't want to live without you anymore." She tightened her hold on him, "I'm not going anywhere. I belong here with you." Deacon lifted her head up and kissed her, "I love you." Rayna smiled against his lips, "I love you more."

**P.S: Thank you swimlets3 and BreannaM13 for the support!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey! I'm back from my trip. Hope everyone had a good break from school or work. This is definitely my favorite chapter so far and I hope ya'll like it as much as I do. :) Pleaseee comment if you have any thoughts. I want to thank everyone who is reading this story, it means a lot. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. **

**Previously:**

**Deacon lifted her head up and kissed her, "I love you." Rayna smiled against his lips, "I love you more."**

**Now:**

Deacon smiled and kissed the top of her head, "mmm I think I love you most!" She smiled against his neck and looked up so he could kiss her softly. "Nope! I do!" She sounds like a cute three year old he thought. Deacon smiled at her cuteness, "Okay, I'll call a truce. We love each other the same. Does that work for ya darling?" Rayna nodded and kissed him. Then she stepped back, "okay I'm stopping cuz I want those shoes!" Deacon chuckled and looked at the ceiling shaking his head, "as you said before, it's just kissing." She smiled and took his line, "we all know where that leads. Especially with the two of us." He laughed and she laughed too.

"I'm going to get some firewood." Deacon was going to walk out the door and smiled when he felt Rayna's hand slide through his. "I'm comin' too I wanna stay with you for these three days. All the time." Deacon kissed her cheek, "me too babe." Rayna smiled up at him and opened the door. They walked outside and went to the back of the house to get the firewood. Deacon had built a little shed and kept it in there so that it wouldn't get wet when it rained. They both took some wood and walked back into the house. Deacon went to start the fire and Rayna sat next to him, "I'm going to take a shower while you get this started." Deacon gave her a mischievous smile, "does that mean I get to come with you since you don't want to be away from me for three days." Rayna smiled and contemplated this. She wanted so much to take a shower with him but she really wanted to keep their agreement because she wanted to heal their emotional relationship and start fresh. She looked up at him, "I want you to join me but I want you to understand why we made this agreement." He smiled back, "I know why Ray, cuz you want us to start fresh in the emotional sense. I get it. But can I still join you? I promise I'll be good. If you don't start anythin' I won't either." "I'm glad you get it babe and okayyyy I guess you can join me. Should we keep our underwear on?" She was joking of course and they laughed.

They washed themselves and then Rayna got Deacon's back for him massaging softly and he washed her back and did the same for her. Then Rayna turned around and Deacon saw a tear roll down her cheek. Deacon gave her a confused look, not knowing why she was crying. She rapped her arms around his waist and looked into his eyes, "you make me so happy and I'm just so sorry that I put you through so much pain because I didn't wait for you. It's my fault that we missed thirteen years of our life together. If you hurt I hurt too. You have my heart babe and I know I have yours and I'm sorry that it's broken cuz of me. I know you got sober for me because you wanted to start a family with me and I just wish I'de have waited because a family with you has always been my dream. I'm going to try so hard to make up for the time we lost. I love you so so much. You always took care of me with everything and you helped me through everything. I never told you this but every night when I went to sleep I would wish that you were there just to tell me you loved me too. In the mornings sometimes, I wished you were there to kiss me good morning because a good morning from you starts my day with a smile. I can't believe I ever put us through those years and I can't imagine what you went through when you saw me with Teddy. It hurt me so much when you were with Megan and when I gave you that ring back I don't even know why I did it. Please tell me you still have it." She was rambling and tears were still rolling down her cheeks. Deacon put a finger to her lips to silence her, "first of all, I need you to stop crying baby." He kissed her eyes and then her cheeks. "Second of all, I put you through pain too and I'm sorry about that everyday too. You also make me so happy and yes you hold my heart just as I hold yours." He pecked her lips and kept going, "being with you right now is mending my heart but I just need to make sure it won't be broken again. I'm beginning to trust you fully. I know you won't leave me anymore and I promise you that too. I love you so much too. We have the same dreams because you're always in mine. About the ring, I threw it to the side of the road when you left and I stood there for another 15 minutes and before I left I looked for it and found it." Her eyes lit up when she heard that he had the ring. He smiled at her but then she though that he still didn't trust her completely and so she gave him a weak smile back, "thank you for trying to trust me again. I know that keeping Maddie a secret was wrong and I know that that hurt you. I just want you two to have a relationship from now on, it's not too late." "I want that too Ray and I want you to be there too." Rayna kissed the dip in between Deacon's collar bones and then stepped on her toes to kiss him with the warm water still rushing over them. "I'm not going anywhere babe." He kissed her back and mumbled a good. She smiled and mumbled against his lips, "wanna get out of here and in front of that warm fire?" "Mhm," Deacon grabbed the two towels that were hanging and rapped one around Rayna first. He is so considerate of me she thought to herself, how did I live without this man?

Then he took a towel and rapped it around his waist and he led her towards the bedroom so they could get dressed. Deacon put on a clean pair of boxers and a T-shirt and Rayna looked through her bag but didn't find anything she wanted to wear so she opened the drawer that held her clothes as a reflex. Deacon was surprised to see her open that drawer and she realized that he would be so she looked at him and smiled, "I saw this the first night, before you got here." Deacon was a little embarrassed and he looked at the floor. Rayna smiled and put a hand on his cheek and he looked up and smiled at her too. He didn't feel like any words were needed so he waited for her to get dressed. She looked through the drawer and found an old pair of her pyjama shorts and an old tank top and she slipped them on. Deacon felt like wrapping his arms around her and taking those clothes right back off of her because her legs looked so long in those shorts and he could see that she hadn't put on a bra but he tried hard to ignored his desires. She could see that he was looking at her and knew what he was thinking so she decided to put him on the spot, "what?" She asked batting her eyelashes at him. "You know what." "M-m," she said shaking her head with a cheeky grin. Deacon walked up to her and kissed her from her lips to her ear and whispered, "if you want to keep this little agreement of yours, you shouldn't be making this harder." He ran his fingertips softly up and down her thighs and she inhaled sharply, closing her eyes. "You're right. I'll just wear this instead." She slipped her hands under his shirt and slipped it off of him and he groaned. She giggled and slipped off her tank top and put his shirt on instead. She chucked her tank top at him and he caught it. "Rayna," he said with a warning tone. "Yes babe? I changed, isn't that what you wanted?" She replied sweetly and slipped off her shorts so she could get her long pyjama pants back on. Deacon was looking at her the whole time and groaned again. She smiled, loving the effect she had on him and walked to the bathroom where she slipped the pants back on. Deacon shook his head surrendering and walked to the kitchen where he started the coffee machine. Rayna got her phone and when she walked in the kitchen she saw Deacon hadn't put a shirt back on and she admired all the muscles in his back and arms. He looks so good she thought. She walked up to him and slipped her hands around his waist from behind, her arms tightened around him. She left feather like kisses on his shoulder blades and when she got close to his ear she whispered, "this is hard for me too babe. Especially since you decided to make this harder for me." He chuckled and looked back at her and kissed her lips. "I did it on purpose," he mumbled against her lips and she giggled. She reached up and ran her hand through his hair and looked into his blue eyes, "I'm glad you're here with me. You feel like home." "Mmm you feel like home too Ray." They smiled at each other with total bliss and then Rayna unwrapped herself and shivered from the lack of contact. She went into the cabinet and laughed. Deacon turned and laughed too. She was holding a Minnie Mouse and a Micky Mouse mug in each of her hands, "you kept these? I was wondering where they had ended up in." "Yeah we brought them here after the show in Florida that we did." "I love these mugs, they are adorable." He touched the tip of her nose with his finger, "mhm just like you." She giggled and handed him the Micky mug. They made their coffees and went to sit on the couch. "I need to call Tandy. Did the reception get any better here? The best spot for calling was always in the living room so I guess things haven't changed." "Nope they haven't. It's the same old cabin." Rayna laughed and stretched her legs out over Deacon's and rested her back against the arm rest. She called Tandy.  
Rayna: "Hey!"  
Tandy: "Wow! You sound happy!"  
Rayna laughed: "I am!"  
"May I ask why?"  
"Ummm yeah. So last night when I came here Deacon showed up and we made up."  
Tandy laughed: "Hmm I should have guessed. Only a night with him can do that to you!"  
Rayna gasped: "Tandy?!"  
"What!? It's the truth you should hear yourself and then maybe you'll get it. Was it great as always?"  
Rayna blushed: "Yes it was."  
Deacon could hear everything that Tandy was saying since she was so loud and he decided to run his hands up from Rayna's ankles to her knees.  
"What are you doin calling me? Shouldn't you be in bed with Deacon right now?" Deacon whispered: we should be. Rayna gave him a look to shush him and he chuckled quietly.  
"Yeah but we made an agreement this morning that we would take things very slowwww."  
Tandy laughed: "yeah? And how is that working for you?"  
Rayna pushed Deacon's hands away with her feet. "Have a little faith in us. We don't just spend our time together in bed."  
Tandy: "no I really think you do actually."  
Deacon chucked and ran his hands on her stomach tickling her. Rayna pushed the phone away from her ear and laughed, "Deacon stop!" He laughed too and tickled her more.  
Tandy: "Hello? I'm still here I can hear you. I can hear everyyythinngg."  
Rayna put the phone back on her ear and stood up to get away from Deacon.  
Rayna: "sorry bout that. The girls are fine right? I know their with Teddy."  
Tandy: "yes they are fine I texted Maddie this morning letting her know where you were. She was fine with it. I won't tell her that Deacon is there too, y'all can do that when your ready."  
Rayna: "thanks babe."  
Tandy: "of course! Don't keep yourselves hangin for too long with that agreement."  
Rayna laughed: "we are actually trying."  
Tandy: "yeah okayy. Not from what I heard."  
Rayna blushed again: "okay well we are doing our best."  
Tandy: "have fun! You need it to relax and Deacon can do that."  
Rayna smiled at Deacon: "yeah he sure can."  
Tandy: "okay I'm going to leave you to it. Love you! Bye."  
Rayna: "love you too, bye."  
Rayna walked over to Deacon and sat in his lap, "you need to keep these wonderful hands to yourself."  
Deacon laughed and kissed her, "it's hard when you're talking to Tandy about how wonderful I am and how good I make you feel." Rayna sighed and rested her head on his shoulder, "it's the truth." He looked down at her and kissed her, "hmm you should really put a shirt on." "Why? I'm comfortable like this." Rayna ran her hand over the muscle in his arm and shoulder and then over his chest until she got to the waistband of his boxers and shivered. Deacon was looking at her the whole time and loving the feel of her hands on him. She kept running her hand around his upper body softly and wished that she hadn't made the agreement but not wanting to break it at the same time. Deacon kissed the top of her head and ran his hand from her ankle to her knee again and then decided to go higher to her thighs. He ran his fingertips over her outer thigh and then when he got to her inner thigh she lifted her leg a little so that he could continue. She moaned softly. They kept comforting each other and Deacon slipped his hand out from her pants and under her shirt and ran his fingertips on her back, scratching softly. He felt all of Rayna's muscles relax and she slipped her hand to his back doing the same for him. They both closed their eyes to revel in the feel of the other's hands. Rayna wanted to get even closer to Deacon so she decided to straddled him and placed her head on his shoulder close to his neck. She hadn't opened her eyes not wanting to break the moment. Deacon waited for her to move and then pulled the blanket from behind the couch over them. She rapped her arms around his waist and he rapped his around hers and they just sat like that thinking about how amazing it felt to be wrapped around each other. Deacon could feel her breath on his neck and it warmed him up. She heard their breathing level out to the same rhythm and kissed his neck softly just because she could. He also relaxed completely and they slowly felt sleep overtake them. If anyone would have seen them they would have wished for that connection, for that bond. They were so in synch, with every move and breath they took. It was the most comfortable and relaxed they had both been in a long while.


	8. Chapter 8

**I want to thank all of the people that review and want to encourage everyone to review because that's why we write :) ok that said here is another chapter. **

**Previously:**

**Deacon waited for her to move and then pulled the blanket from behind the couch over them. She rapped her arms around his waist and he rapped his around hers and they just sat like that thinking about how amazing it felt to be wrapped around each other. Deacon could feel her breath on his neck and it warmed him up. She heard their breathing level out to the same rhythm and kissed his neck softly just because she could. He also relaxed completely and they slowly felt sleep overtake them. If anyone would have seen them they would have wished for that connection, for that bond. They were so in synch, with every move and breath they took. It was the most comfortable and relaxed they had both been in a long while.**

**Now:**

It was five in the afternoon when Deacon woke up from their nap first and looked at Rayna. He thinks to himself, she is so beautiful and she looks like an angel, my angel. He sighed, relieved that she was his, all his, again. He could still feel her breath on his neck and her body wrapped around him. It felt like his skin was burning and we was glad because he knew he was keeping her warm and that's why she hadn't woken up yet. He played with the ends of her hair carefully so as not to wake her. He waited another ten minutes for her to wake up and when she didn't he decided to wake her softly because he wanted her to be awake with him. He knew that if he woke her up suddenly or with a sudden movement she would be cranky and so he started to hum I'm Back Home quietly. He knew she would wake up from the movement of his rib cage since she was still straddling him and they were chest to chest. She sighed and he knew she was waking and he continued to hum. She inched even closer to his neck and kissed his collar bone lazily, her lips lingering there. She unwrapped her arms from around his waist and stretched slowly and then she rapped them around his neck, her head still on his shoulder. Her knees were bent and she could feel her joints were tired so she rapped her legs around his waist, he moved up the couch a little so that she could get comfortable and then leaned back again. She whispered, "it's nice to wake up like this. With your arms around me and you humming softly." He ran his hands up and down her back, "I had to wake you up cuz I was getting lonely." She smiled against his neck and lifted her head up to look at him. Her hair was messed up from sleeping and he ran his hands through it tugging her head back a little, exposing her neck. He kissed her jaw and made his way to her lips. "Are you proud of me? I didn't steal the blanket and I'm warm." He smiled against her lips, "yes, I'm very proud of you baby." They opened their eyes and smiled. "You kept me warm," she said softly. He grinned and kissed her again. Her fingers played with his hair and his hands rested on her hips. "What time is it? I'm hungry," she asked. He chuckled and grabbed her phone from next to them. "It's 5:30. Wanna start making dinner?" "Mhm." He pulled the blanket off of them and stood up. Rayna laughed, "this is probably not a position we should be in. Put me down!" "No I think it is. Maybe you should take your big sister's advice and not keep us hangin with this agreement." He kissed her. She laughed, "it's not even been 24 hours yet and this is already hard. I think we have a problem. We are obsessed with each other." Deacon laughed and put her down, "yeah we are." She smiled and kissed him. She went into the kitchen and he went to put a shirt on and then joined her.

Rayna opened the fridge, "hmm, ok so how about steamed vegetables, chicken, and potatoes in the oven?" "Yep. That sounds so good. I bought chocolate ice cream for later." Rayna grinned, "that's my favorite." Deacon smiled, "I know it is. It's mine too." Rayna smiled because he remembered everything about her, "yeah I know it's your favorite too." Deacon smiled back. Rayna handed him carrots, zucchini, and the chicken. She took the potato bag that was next to the fridge and opened it. Deacon had taken out two chopping trays, two knives, and a peeler for the potatoes. Rayna took out a pot and put water in it for the vegetables and put it on the stove in order for it to start boiling. She then turned on the oven so it could heat up for the potatoes. When they caught each other's glances they smiled and continued. They didn't need to tell each other that Deacon was going to make the chicken and that she was going to make the vegetables, because it had always been that way. Rayna didn't like touching raw meat so he took care of that. They didn't need to talk, they just knew. They stood side by side, Deacon cleaning and preparing the chicken and Rayna chopping up the vegetables. She found a long pan to put the potatoes in and put oil on the bottom. She went to the fridge again and found onions. She cut one up and tears were forming in her eyes from the onions so Deacon waited for them to fall and wiped them away with a tissue, "thanks babe," she smiled and put the onions in the pan as well, in order to give the potatoes more flavor. "You're welcome," he kissed her and continued to cut the meat. Rayna was peeling the potatoes and her hand slipped and the blade gave her a cut on her thumb, "owww!" She exclaimed. Deacon looked up and saw that blood was coming out of the cut, he knew she hated blood so he took her hand and led her to the faucet, "it's ok Ray. I know you don't like blood but it's a very very very small cut." She smiled at him because he knew exactly what to do. "Wait here I'll go get a bandaid for you." "Are you sure that'll be enough? It's a lot of blood." Deacon gave her a look and laughed, "it's a small cut Ray, you didn't loose your thumb." She gave him a smile, "okay, doctor." He smiled and walked to the bathroom. He came back with a bandaid, took her hand in his, and wrapped it around the cut. He kissed her thumb, "there ya go. All better?" Rayna smiled and hugged him, "mhm. Thank you for taking care of me." She was just happy that he hadn't changed and even took care of her with the simplest things, like putting on a bandaid. He could have handed it to her but instead he took the time to put it on her and make sure she was okay. She looked up and kissed him, he kissed her back and then pulled away and picked up the peeler. He looked at the metal part of it. Rayna looked too, "what are you lookin for?" "Just making sure there wasn't any rust on it. Haven't used it in a while so you never know." She smiled at him, "you're so cute babe." Deacon laughed, "I don't think a grown man wants to be called cute." Rayna laughed too, "well I can't think about the other things you are cuz that would lead to us being in bed together." Deacon chuckled, "I'm really hatin this agreement." Rayna kissed him, "I know, me too. It's hard, we never tried this before but it gives our relationship a deeper attachment." He smiled at her, "mhm you're right." Rayna laughed, "as usual. What else is new?" She said sarcastically, flipping her hair. Deacon laughed, "okay, I think you got praised enough. Get back to cookin." Rayna smiled and kept peeling the potatoes. Deacon was done with cleaning and cutting the chicken so he cut the potatoes for Rayna and put them in the oven because they took the longest to cook. He then put a pan on the stove added olive oil and the rest of the onion she had cut. When it was warmed up he added the chicken. Rayna put the vegetables in the boiling pot and stirred them while deacon flipped the meat. He stepped back in order for her to check the potatoes. She asked him, "what do you want to drink?" "I want the ice tea you make." "Wow! I haven't made that in a while. I want it too." She got Lipton black tea, tea bags out and got the big plastic glasses that she always used to use for the ice tea. She put water and ice in the cups and put the tea bags in there. She got sugar and added just the right amount into the cups. She made hers sweeter than Deacon's because she knew he liked it more bitter than hers. She got straws and put them in the cups and found one lemon in the fridge and cut two slices and put them on the rim of the cups. Deacon had turned off the vegetables and the oven and the chicken was done. He was busy, putting everything into the plates so she put the straw next to his lips and he sipped. "Just the way I like it!" Rayna laughed, satisfied that she hadn't forgotten, "see I know what you like." Deacon looked at her his eyes became darker, "mmm I know you do." Rayna laughed and hit his arm, "I didn't mean it like that!" He kissed her, "I know you didn't but it's still true." Rayna blushed and Deacon kissed her so that she could look up and he grinned at her. Rayna took the ice tea to the table and Deacon took the plates and the forks and knives. They ate and made small talk, talking about everything and nothing at the same time, as if they didn't have any worries but to be with each other. They both finished eating at the same time and by the time they cleaned everything up it was eight.  
Deacon asked, "do you want some ice cream?" Rayna nodded and got a spoon out and Deacon got the ice cream. They walked to the living room and sat across each other on the couch. Before he sat down, Deacon put more wood in the fire, so that it would stay on. Rayna opened the chocolate ice cream and scooped some out. She ate some off the spoon and fed the rest to Deacon. Deacon took the spoon away from her and ate a spoon full. He then gave some to Rayna but the moment the spoon came out of her mouth, his was on hers. She moaned, not expecting the kiss but kissed him back with as much force. They both tasted like chocolate and they loved it. Deacon pulled her back leaving her panting lightly. He acted as if he wasn't affected but she knew he was and it drove her crazier. She said, "you're killing me here you know that?" Deacon smirked, "I know exactly what I'm doing." She rolled her eyes playfully and mumbled almost to herself, "I should have never made this agreement with you. We know way too much about each other's bodies and how to drive the other one crazy." Deacon knew exactly how she felt. He ate more ice cream and fed her some too, "I'm not breaking it. I like the challenge. Do you want more ice cream?" She shook her head so Deacon got up and put the ice cream away. Rayna smiled when he walked back in, "me too. I guess we were too close in our physical relationship so living without it is going to be the biggest challenge of our relationship." Deacon sat down and grinned, "we're just too good in bed." She laughed, "yeah, with each other at least." Deacon was happy to hear that because he never wanted her to have that bond with anyone else. "Yes, definitely with each other." Rayna also smiled. She had cherished that part of their relationship especially because he had been her first and she was glad that she was at the top of his list too. It was nice to hear that. She blushed and looked down, "you know I have always been attached to you with that cuz you were my first." Deacon smiled remembering that night. "I'm glad I was. You know I was really scared but never told you that." Rayna looked up at him, "I would have never known. You made me feel confident and good. I knew we loved each other and I knew I wanted you to be the first." She got closer to him on the couch and she laid her head in his lap. He caressed her cheek, "I wish you had been my first too Ray. I wish we could have crossed that line together." She ran one of her hands through his hair reassuring him that it was okay. "I know it wasn't a problem for you but it's hard to explain. You won't regret that I was your first cuz we truly love each other. I didn't love her like that." Rayna moved so that her head was on his chest and she looked up so she could kiss him, "I know. I'm glad I waited for you." She laid her had back on his chest and kissed it over the fabric of his chest. He sighed, "well if it's worth anything, you were waayy better. No one compares to you in any way." Rayna blushed. Even though she had known him for so long it was still a little embarrassing to hear him talk like that about her but very flattering at the same time. She whispered, "thank you. You're at the top of my list too babe. Although my list is very short." Deacon chuckled and asked, "how long is your list?" "Umm five people. You, Teddy, Liam. Two one night stands that I don't remember the names of. How about you?" Deacon smiled and kissed her, "I don't think you want to know." Rayna lifted her head off his chest, "why not?" He smiled and kissed her, "I lost count." She gasped and they laughed, "that's way to many for my liking." Deacon chuckled and kissed her again, "wait?! You slept with Liam?" Rayna looked away, "yeah, right after the accident it was just a fling, no emotions of anything like that." Deacon was happy to hear that, "okay good. Anyway for the people you know, I slept with you, Megan, Stacey, Molly the one who interviewed us, and my first was Allison but you don't know her. Then there are a lot of one night stands and I don't remember how many." She smiled and then was serious, "did you think you loved Allison when you slept with her?" "Yeah, I thought I did but then I met you and it was nothing compared to that. Allison was like a puppy love story it wasn't serious." Rayna smiled and said jokingly, "well, I don't like her." Deacon chuckled and kissed her, "don't worrryyy as I said, you're still the best." Rayna smiled and kissed him again. "Mmm, good." They smiled against each other lips and continued kissing for a bit. "I love you," she whispered. "I love you too Ray." They smiled against each others lips.

A/N: Luke wasn't on her list because thy were never together in my story. Pleaseee review because that's the reason I would continue writing.


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you to everyone who reads this story and to everyone who reviews. Next chapter they are going home so they will have to deal with the real world but for now here is some Deyna fluff, very much needed in these times. :) please please please review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. **

**Chapter 9**

Rayna asked, "what do you want to do?" Deacon started pulling the shirt she was wearing up slowly and his eyes were connected with hers the whole time. He had no intention of breaking the agreement but teasing wouldn't hurt. Rayna's eyes turned darker and mirrored his. She placed her hands on his and she whispered, "uh, uh babe." Deacon smiled, "I'm only teasing you." Rayna sighed, "what am I goin to do with you?" Deacon chuckled, "mmm I don't know." Rayna smiled and kissed his cheek, "do you have the old picture albums that I put together here?" Deacon nodded, "yeah they are here, why?" "I wanted to see them." "I'll get them out for you. Wanna get ready for bed in the meantime?" Rayna nodded and they got up from the couch.

She went to the bathroom and got ready for bed. She went to the bedroom and slipped the pyjama shorts on because she knew she would be warm and put her tank top back on. She pulled the covers back and sat in bed with her back against the headboard, waiting for Deacon. He walked in with three albums and smiled at Rayna. He placed the albums on her legs and pecked her before going to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

He came back and saw that Rayna hadn't moved so he figured she was waiting for him. "What are you thinking about?" He asked as he pulled of his shirt and climbed into bed with her. "I was thinking about the time when I put these pictures together. We came here and it was perfect as usual and it was fun putting these together. I remember thinking that one day we would show our children what mommy and daddy were like when they were young." Deacon smiled and pulled her head on his shoulder and she scooted closer to him. He said, "maybe we can take them back with us and show Maddie and Daphne?" Rayna looked up at him and nodded, "yeah I think Maddie would really like that. She asked me about when you kissed me the first time. I think she wants to know where she came from." Deacon smiled down at her his eyes twinkling, "she really asked you that?" "Mhm and I told her and she said that the date you had planned was really cute." Deacon kissed her and then pulled back, "I can't believe we made her. We made her Ray." Rayna's eyes became cloudy and her voice broke a little, "yeah we did and it's the best gift ever. It proves our love and she wants us to share it with her." Deacon kissed her again and then grabbed the first album and opened it.

The first picture was of them sitting on stage with two stools and microphones, singing to each other. That album was all about their career and it held pictures of them performing at arenas and at the bluebird. They looked through it together and then took the next one. This one was more intimate and it showed more of their private side. It was pictures of just the two of them, kissing, hugging, laughing, and it showed their love and dedications to each other. Their love was palpable in the pictures. The last picture on that album was of them standing in front of the house Deacon had bought for them. He was standing behind her and she was leaning against him. Rayna ran her fingers over the house, wishing that it could all be real. Deacon was holding her other hand but he released it and ran his fingers over the two of them in the picture. It was almost as if they were bringing it to life again, and somehow they felt like they were. Rayna entwined her legs with his and he kissed her forehead. She said, "that had always been my dream and if felt so real." Deacon replied, "I know, it was my dream too."

They looked at the picture for a bit and then Rayna reached for the last album, she knew this would be the hardest especially because Vince was in it. It was the album that contained pictures of them and their friends. From all the times they got together with them for barbecues or parades they went to. Rayna took Deacon's hand back in hers to give him support and opened to the first page. It was a picture of Deacon and Vince with their guitars. Rayna had told them to look up and smile and she captured the picture perfectly. Deacon gave out a shaky breath and Rayna tightened the hold on his hand. There were pictures of her and Vince and pictures of all three of them. There were also pictures of them with a group of friends but Vince was in every one of them and he always stood by Deacon's side. They were each other's support system in a different way than Rayna and Deacon were for each other. Vince had been Deacon's best friend and they were inseparable like brothers. By the end of the pictures Rayna had tears in her eyes and so did Deacon. She knew they would probably escape his eyes so she sat up and hugged him an he buried his head in her neck. "I miss him so much," he mumbled shakily his voice breaking. Rayna hugged him tighter, "I know, I miss him too." Rayna felt wetness on her neck and a tear escaped her eyes too. This had happened before and she knew the best thing to do was just hold him to let him know she was there. So she sat up more, rapped her arm around his waist and the other around his neck and pulled him closer to her so that their bodies were completely connected. Deacon just held onto her and allowed himself to think about Vince. He felt that he could only think about him when she was there because he knew that he could count on her and that he wouldn't drink or want to drink. They stayed like that until Deacon kissed behind her ear and mumbled, "thank you." Rayna pulled back, nodded, and then kissed all over his face, to make him feel better. She said, "we don't have to show that one to the girls unless you want to. I know it hurts you to see him and I know you miss him so it's up to you babe." Deacon smiled at how considerate and caring she was, "it's part of our past so I think they can see it. We'll just show them that one first and then move onto the happy things." Rayna ran her hands through his hair and kissed him. She just wanted to take all of his pain away and the only way she had done that before was with their bodies but she knew they had to find a new a way and not just a distraction. "You can talk to me about him whenever you want. I want you to know that you can count on me. I will understand. Sometimes all I want to do is talk about my mama and I don't have anyone to do that with. I know I have Tandy but they didn't have the same bond." "Thank you Ray. You can talk to me about her if you want, I'll be glad to listen." Rayna smiled and hugged him. He had always helped her when she was missing her mom. He ran his hands through her hair and scooted down so that they were laying down. Rayna hid her face in his neck, "I felt really lonely after the accident, I felt like I had lost you. I went to the cemetery a lot and talked to her. I felt like she could hear me. She was the person I felt comfortable turning to." Deacon felt bad that she had felt that lonely and he ran his hand up and down her back to soothe her. "I'm sorry you felt that lonely. I wish I could have been there to help." Despite her sadness she smiled against his neck and kissed it softly, "you're here now and that's what matters to me. You are my support system Deacon. You are the person I run to for help. You're the only one who I want to cheer me up when I'm down because you know everything about me. There would be no me without you." She looked up at him and he smiled, "there would be no me without you Ray. We are each other's rock and person. You have been in my life for everything and I trust you with everything." Rayna kissed his lips, "I'm never leaving you again."

Deacon kissed her again, wanting to be as close the her as possible and if kissing is all they could do then he would do just that. He kissed her lips slowly and then pulled back but their lips lingered close to each other, just brushing. Rayna's breathing sped up because she could feel his breath and his taste was on her tongue. She ran her hands through his hair and pulled his head to her softly so that she could kiss him. It was slow and calm, not frenzied but the gentleness of his lips drove her crazier. She slowly ran her tongue on his lips and then pulled back. They had kissed like this many times before and it wasn't to turn the other on, it was to comfort each other. It was a way of telling each other that that they were there and they were close. They knew that this wouldn't lead to anything but they didn't care because kissing each other felt better than anything else. They knew that they would soon fall asleep and that this was their lullaby so they layed on their sides facing each other rapped their arms and legs around the other and allowed themselves to think of anything they usually didn't want to think about. Rayna thought of her mom and how she had alway believed in her. She remembered having nightmares and laying exactly like this with her. For once in a very long time she thought of her mom and didn't feel like crying because she felt protected, loved and cherished. She opened her eyes and looked at him and felt all her worries rushing away somehow. If felt good to belong to someone and have them belong to you. He is so good looking she thought to herself and she ran her hand on his cheek and chin. "Thank you," she said. Deacon opened his eyes to look into hers, "for what?" "For being you." Deacon kissed her softly and then hugged her tighter and closed his eyes and fell asleep. Rayna was awake for a while longer and she thought about her girls and how much they were important to her. They were the most important people in her life, more important than Deacon. She hoped that nothing would ever happen to her because she didn't want to leave them alone how her mom had and she hoped that they would find a guy who would help them in case she did, someone like Deacon. She kissed his cheek, careful not to wake him up. He would never know how important he was for her. She looked at him for a while longer and then fell asleep.

**Let me know if you want anything in particular to happen and I'll do my best to incorporate it in the next chapters. **


	10. Chapter 10

**THANK YOU all so much for the great feedback! It means everuthing and I am so grateful :) Merry Christmas to everybody and here is a present for my faithful readers :) **

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.

Rayna woke up first and turned to look over her shoulder. Deacon was still sleeping and she didn't want to wake him. She turned over to face him kissed him softly and got up. She went to the living room and saw that she had no texts. Rayna though, I guess Tandy wasn't kidding when she said she wanted me to relax. She put her phone on charge and went to make breakfast. She made coffee and started to mix ingredients to make pancakes. I wonder if there still are wild blueberries in the back. She walked outside and gave out a soft laugh when she found what she was looking for. Yep, nothing changed here. In the meantime Deacon had woken up and was looking out the window at her and laughed when he saw what she was doing. She never changes, he though to himself and smiled. He got up and put a shirt on and walked to sliding door that led to backyard to wait for her. Rayna picked the best blueberries she could find and was counting looking down at them as she walked back to the house. She reached one hand out to open the door but her hand landed on Deacon's arm. She jumped a little not expecting him there. Deacon chuckled, "good morning." "Morning," she smiled and kissed him before walking in. She went back to cooking and he prepared their coffees for them. She made blueberry pancakes and set the table and sat down to eat.

Rayna said, "so I was thinking that after we finish eating we should head home." Deacon nodded, "are you going to tell the girls what happened while we were here?" Rayna nodded, "mhm, I want to see what they have to say. I don't know how Maddie will react."  
"I think she might be a little hostile to it in the beginning, she is a teenage girl and her life has been a roller coaster in the past few months."  
Rayna smiled he already knew a lot about her, "yeah I think you're right. I just need them to be okay with us being together because they are the most important."  
Deacon nodded, "I understand. What happens if they aren't?"  
Rayna shrugged, "I don't know babe, I don't want to think about that right now."  
Deacon's face dropped a little. He knew that they were the most important people in her life and that they would alway come first but he hoped he could be part of their lives. Rayna lifted her hand to his cheek, "hey, don't worry about it right now. Okay?" Deacon nodded, "I just don't want to loose you again." Rayna lifted his hand to her lips and kissed it, "you won't." She entwined her fingers with his.

He gave her a small smile and caressed her cheek. They finished eating thinking about what their future would hold and if they would even have a future by this afternoon. When they finished eating they washed and dried all the dishes. They put everything right where it belonged. Deacon asked, "what are we bringing back?" Rayna felt like he was being a little cold towards her so she hugged him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Memories." Deacon hugged her back. He knew she was trying to assure him that everything would be fine but he wanted to know for sure. He kissed the top of her head. Rayna continued, "we are bringing back the agreement we made, the picture books, and I want blueberries." Deacon chuckled, "they are really good." "Yeah they are." Then he asked, "do you want to shower before we leave?" Rayna nodded and broke the hug. Deacon continued, "you can go take your shower and I'll get the blueberries and pack the albums." Rayna kissed him and went to take a quick shower. She went to the bedroom and looked through her bag for clothes. Deacon walked in but stopped in his tracks when he saw that she was only wearing a towel that went right under her butt. He let out the breath he was holding and Rayna turned around. She looked down at what she was wearing, or not wearing, and laughed, "I'm sorry babe I was just looking for clothes." "Who said I was affected?" Rayna laughed, "hmm no one I just know you are." Deacon laughed and walked over to kiss her quickly. Rayna put her bra and underwear on without exposing anything but continued to look for her clothes with just her undergarments on. Deacon shook his head and looked at the ceiling, "Rayna." She looked up at him, "I'm sorry. I keep forgetting. This was never a problem." Deacon looked at her and lifted one of his eyebrows, "when was that not a problem." He pointed to her lack of clothing. Rayna laughed, "okay okay I'll get dressed. Oh and I didn't forget, it's payback for when you were walking around in your boxers the whole day yesterday." Deacon chuckled and shook his head. If she was going to tease him he would tease right back. He stood behind her and let his fingertips skim her thighs, her belly, her arms, her cleavage, then he ran his fingertips from the bottom of her bra to the top of her panties and ran his finger right under the waistband. She squirmed and moaned softly. Her hips moved against his boxers and she could feel the effect she was having on him and it excited her more. She so badly wanted to continue this, probably more than he did but she couldn't. Not only for the agreement but also because she wanted the girls to be on board with this relationship and she felt like she was cheating them if she didn't talk to them first. She stopped her movements and whisper sighed, "we can't." Deacon replied, "I just wanted you to know that what you are doing does cause a problem. Now I'm going to go take a cold shower." Rayna smiled and then giggled. She was happy he still found her attractive, there was no denying that her body had changed since they were young. She turned her head to kiss him and then he went to take a shower and she put on jeans and a shirt and put the pj's, albums, and blueberries in her bag. She brought the bag to the car and when she walked back inside she went to make the bed and saw that Deacon was ready and dressed. They made the bed and Deacon went to turn off the water and electricity. She got her phone and Deacon got his keys and locked the house. Rayna turned to him after he closed the door and kissed him. "What was that for?" Rayna smiled, "thank you for these past days and for relaxing me." Deacon kissed her again, "you're welcome and thank you." "You're welcome." She ran her hands on his sides kissed him and whispered, "I love you." "I love you too Ray." She kissed him again this time a little deeper, "I hope we can be alone together soon." Deacon smiled, "me too." "I'll call you after I talk to the girls." "Okay, I'll be waiting." They walked to their cars and drove home. They both thought about the time they had spent together and Rayna got nervous about telling the girls. She wanted to do it ASAP.

She pulled into Tandy's driveway, as she was still living there and saw that Tandy's car was there. She opened the door, "Tandy? I'm home!" She heard her sister reply, "In the living room." Rayna walked there. Tandy could see the difference in Rayna, she looked younger and she seemed alive, as if she had finally healed from the accident. "You look great! Now, tell me what happened! You didn't keep the agreement did you?" Rayna laughed, "we did too keep the agreement! We only slept together the first night and then once the next morning, before the agreement. But we talked a lot. We agree that the girls should know first, before we continue this story." Tandy nodded. Rayna continued to tell her everything that happened and showed her the albums they had found. Tandy told her that she was happy for them and that she have them her blessing. That meant a lot to Rayna, she was glad her sister was on board.

Later that afternoon the girls came home from Teddy's. Daphne ran up to her and hugged her. Maddie also went up and hugged her. "Hey girls, how was your time with daddy?" Daphne: "It was great we stayed up and watches lots of movies and ate popcorn and candy."  
Maddie shrugged: "it was okay. How was your time at the cabin?"  
Rayna sighed, here we go, she thought. "Umm I actually wanted to talk to you two about something that happened at the cabin."  
The girls looked at her waiting for her to continue. "Let's go sit in the living room." They walked to the living room and the girls both hugged their aunt and sat with her on the couch and Rayna sat on the coffee table so that she was facing them. "I want you girls to be truly honest with me after I tell you this okay? Promise?" The girls both nodded. "The night I went to the cabin, Deacon showed up, because you know it's his cabin. I was going to leave but he told me to stay there and he stayed too." She paused looking at their expressions, Daphne looked excited but Maddie's face was blank. "We talked about being together again and we realized that we both want that but before we make a definite decision I need you girls to be on board. So, what do you think?" Rayna let out the breath she was holding. Daphne was really happy, "I like Deacon! Wait does this mean he would be your boyfrienddd?" Rayna nodded and smiled, "mhm, a little more than that but yes that's what he would be." Daphne grinned, she was really happy. Rayna turned to Maddie expectingly and she shrugged, she had no idea what to say to that. She was just trying to figure all this out and again something changed in her life. "Can I think about it?" Rayna's face dropped but she nodded, "yes you can." Maddie stood up and went to her room. Daphne asked, "what's wrong with her?" Tandy replied, "nothing honey, don't worry about her, she'll be okay. Do you want some ice cream?" Daphne nodded and they went to the kitchen. Rayna mouthed a thank you to Tandy and walked up to go talk to Maddie.

She knocked on the door, "may I come in? You can ask me anything you want." "Yeah come in." Rayna walked in and sat on the bed with Maddie, "what's troubling you?" "I don't know, I'm supposed to be happy because you love each other but I don't know. So much has happened this was just another shock." Rayna stroked Maddie's hair, "that's why I want to talk to you about this. He wants to be part of your life, part of our lives." Maddie looked at her, "can I ask you something personal?" Rayna nodded. Maddie tried to think of a way of putting this, "did you guys just talk? Or did more happen?" Rayna was shocked, she knew that her daughter knew about all that stuff but for her to ask her that felt awkward, "that is a personal question, does it matter?" Maddie shrugged, "I don't know, maybe. I was just wondering." Rayna understood that Maddie was trying to sort through all of this and she really did want to know about her and Deacon and she wanted to be honest with her daughter, "yeah other things happened," she whispered. Maddie looked down and then up to her mom again, "okay." Rayna was surprised she was expecting her daughter to be ashamed but she wasn't, that's a step in the right direction she thought to herself. "Does he really want to be part of my life? I would love to play or sing with him." "Yeah he does honey. He told me numerous times." Maddie's eyes twinkled and she smiled, "may I have his number?" Rayna looked surprised, "yes of course." She told Maddie the number and she saved it into her phone. She then called him. "Maddie? What are you doing?" Maddie shrugged, "calling him." Rayna couldn't wait to hear what she had to say, "do you want me to leave?" Maddie shook her head, "no stay I want you to hear." She put the phone on loud-speaker.  
Deacon: hello?  
Maddie: hey, it's me Maddie.  
Deacon sounded surprised but happy and Rayna smiled: oh hey darlin, how are you?  
Maddie: I'm good, mom just talked to me about you two.  
Deacon: oh yeah? What did she say?  
Maddie: she's here she can hear you.  
Rayna smiled: hey!  
Deacon chuckled: hey!  
Maddie smiled: I just want you two to know that this is going to be hard for me in the beginning but I don't mind that you are together.  
Rayna and Deacon both sighed. Maddie looked at her mom, "what? Did you two being together depend on me?"  
Rayna: yes pretty much.  
Deacon didn't know what to say. This was all becoming so real.  
Deacon: your mom and I want to show you and Daphne something. Maybe it will make this easier for you.  
Maddie looked at her mom but Rayna didn't reveal anything. She knew Deacon was talking about the albums.  
Maddie: why don't you come over?  
Rayna smiled, Deacon knew how to make his daughter curious and not reveal too much. He is just so perfect she thought to herself.  
Deacon smiled: yeah that sounds good, can I talk to your mom for a minute?  
Maddie handed the phone to Rayna and Rayna stepped out of the room.  
Rayna: hey babe, it's just me know.  
Deacon: hey. I'm so happy that she's okay with this.  
Maddie walked up to her door so she could hear what Rayna was saying.  
Rayna: me too. Then she whispered: I love you.  
Deacon: I love you too, and I'll see you in ten minutes.  
Rayna smiled: okay, hurry.  
Deacon chuckled and hung up. Maddie ran to her bed, she knew that her mom truly loved Deacon and she knew that she had been created out of love but she just wanted to understand where she came from and if them being together would do that then she would give it a shot. Rayna handed her the phone, "I'm glad your on board with this. I know it's hard and confusing but we can work on it together. You can ask us anything you want."  
Maddie nodded acknowledging her.  
"He said he'll be here in ten minutes." Maddie nodded again, "okay, let's tell Daphne and aunt Tandy."  
They walked to the kitchen and Rayna gave Tandy the look that showed everything was good. Tandy would have known anyway because she looked happy and so did Maddie. Maddie said, "Deacon will be here in ten minutes, he said that they want to show us something."  
Daphne exclaimed, "yay! What do you want to show us?"  
Rayna zipped her lips shut with her fingers and pretended to throw the key behind her. Daphne looked at Tandy, "do you know?!" Tandy nodded, "I'm not telling you though."  
Daphne rolled her eyes, "we have to wait ten whole minutes?"  
Rayna said, "yeah and maybe a little more than that." Tandy laughed and so did Rayna but the girls weren't laughing. Maddie said jokingly, "you're being mean." Rayna nudged her softly, "that's okay, you can handle it." Rayna and Tandy kept laughing and Daphne did too, after a few seconds of looking at them Maddie laughed too.

A few minutes later the doorbell rang and Rayna immediately said, "I'll get it." Tandy raised her eyebrows at her sister and Rayna smiled sarcastically at her and hurried to open the door. Deacon was standing there. She let him step inside and then kissed him, "hi." She talked against his lips he said "hi" back and she pecked him again. "We have to be on our best behavior I don't want to make this awkward for Maddie." Deacon nodded agreeing with her. They walked into the kitchen and Daphne exclaimed, "hey!" She ran up to him and hugged him. Deacon chuckled, "hi darling." He hugged her back. Maddie said, "hey," and have him a small wave and he waved back, "hey." Then he saw Tandy and said hi to her as well. Daphne asked enthusiastically, "what do you have to show us?!" Deacon looked over at Rayna and they smiled at each other. Rayna said, "you're sure? This opens lots of doors and questions." Deacon smiled and shrugged, "it's fine with me." "Okay then I'll go get them and y'all go get comfortable in the living room." Tandy sat on the armchair, Maddie and Daphne sat on the couch, Deacon sat on the carpet with his side against the couch. Rayna got the albums and put them in order, friends, career, and then the two of them. She walked in and Maddie and Daphne looked at the surprise. Maddie grinned, this is what she had been waiting for for so long, she wanted to see these pictures. Rayna sat down on the floor next to Deacon but faced the couch so that the albums would be on her legs and face the girls.

"Okay girls so we found these albums and it shows our past," she looked at Deacon and they smiled at each other and then she went on, "the first one is going to be about our friends and you will see a face reoccurring a lot, that's Vince," she looked at Deacon again and rested her hand on his knee and turned back to the girls, "he was Deacon's best friend they were practically joined at the hip. He umm unfortunately past away in a car accident and Deacon was in the passenger's seat." She tightened the grip on his leg to give him support. Maddie was watching every single one of their moves and she could see that they clearly knew exactly what to do. Tandy thought to herself, fifteen years passed but they are exactly the same with each other. Rayna looked back at the girls, "ready?" They nodded and she opened to the first picture. She kept her hand on Deacon's knee to comfort him he placed his hand over hers. The girls looked through the pictures studying all of them carefully. When they finished that album Rayna got the next one which was pictures of them during their career. Deacon said, "this one's about the musical bond we share and y'all will be able to see us singin'." Maddie smiled she was waiting for this but she didn't know that the last album would give her more answers. Rayna's and Deacon's hands were still joined and she opened to the first page. Daphne commented on the shoes and pretty dresses that Rayna had worn and they all giggled or chuckled and laughed at her when she said, "oh my gosh mom! Those shoes!" Or, "can I wear that dress to myyyy danccce? It's short!" The girls looked through that album carefully too and Rayna got the third one, "these pictures are the private pictures that very few people have seen. We tried very very hard to keep our personal life private and these are all about us." She looked at Deacon again and they smiled and then Maddie was so eager that she flipped to the first page herself. The girls looked through the pictures and awwwwwed at almost every one. There was a page full with pictures they took in photo-booths and they were making silly faces and the girls laughed at those. When they got to the last picture the one of Rayna and Deacon standing in front of the house Maddie asked, "what's that house?" Deacon's and Rayna's eyes met and they were serious, were they ready to tell the girls this? Especially because this was the house where Maddie was conceived. Deacon looked up at Maddie, "I um bought this house for your mama and me when she got her first CMA nomination. We lived there for a while and I had even asked her to marry me and she had agreed." Rayna ran her hand on his knee. Maddie and Daphne were looking at him intently. Maddie had never thought that they were living together and that they were engaged! She was surprised to say the least and she asked, "what happened?" Rayna closed her eyes and looked down, this was the question she was dreading the most, "do you mind if I tell you later?" Rayna's eyes signaled to Daphne, she didn't want to say it in front of her. Maddie nodded. Daphne asked, "is the house still there?" Deacon nodded, "mhm, why?" Daphne said, "I wanna see it." Rayna smiled and looked at Deacon and then back at Daphne, "maybe tomorrow." Daphne pouted. Deacon said, "I promise to take you there." Daphne grinned at him and then her stomach grumbled and they all laughed. Rayna turned to Deacon, "wanna stay for dinner?" Deacon nodded, "sure."


	11. Chapter 11

**Again, I want to thank everybody that reads and reviews, keep your thoughts coming! :) This chapter would have been to long if I didn't stop it where I did and I promise the next chapter will be up pretty soon :) Enjoy!**

Tandy asked, "what do y'all wanna eat? I could go for some Chinese food." They all agreed and they called to order what they each wanted. Tandy said she would pick it up and asked Daphne, "do you want to come and help me?" "Does Maddie have to come too?" Maddie shook her head, "I don't wanna go." Daphne said, "it's not fair, I'm not coming either." Tandy whispered in Daphne's ear, "I'll let you watch an extra thirty minutes of TV every night for a week." Daphne's eyes lit up and she walked to the door.  
Maddie turned to Rayna and Deacon, "can y'all tell me what happened now?" Rayna looked at Deacon for support and to back her up on this and he nodded reassuringly. Rayna said, "mhm. After Deacon asked me to marry him and I agreed I found out I was pregnant with you and I decided to tell Tandy." Rayna felt like she was going to cry at this next part, "I wanted to tell Deacon, I really did. Tandy and I went to the house and I saw that he had fallen off the wagon again," Rayna's voice broke, "Tandy didn't think he could handle having a child and I was too emotional to think straight so we walked away. It hurt me to walk away, it was probably the hardest thing I have ever done and I'm sorry that you two couldn't form a relationship." A tear rolled down her cheek. Deacon ran his hand up and down her back to soothe her. Maddie understood why she hadn't told Deacon and she wished she had known that he was her father sooner. "I didn't know she was pregnant till after I got out of rehab and she was already married to Teddy so I never thought that I was the father." Rayna was drying her tears. Maddie nodded, "do you think you could have handled a child?" Deacon shook his head, "I don't think I could have at the time but I want to try from now on." Maddie smiled at him, "I would like that." Rayna put a strand of hair behind Maddie's ear, "now you will have a great guitar teacher. He is the best of the best." Rayna looked up at Deacon and grinned, he wanted to kiss her but held back because of Maddie so he just kissed her cheek. Maddie looked at Deacon and smiled, he smiled back.

Tandy then opened the door and Maddie got up to help her get the food and Deacon lent towards Rayna and kissed her quickly. Rayna smiled against his lips and then pushed him away when she heard the girls walk in, Tandy right behind them. Everyone got their food and sat around the island in the kitchen and ate. The girls talked to them about school and then Rayna said, "you know how I told y'all that you could come on tour for the weekend? Tomorrow is Friday and I completely forgot about it." The girls nodded and Tandy looked at her skeptically. Rayna went on, "well, I'de rather stay here with y'all and work on Highway 65. What do y'all think?" The girls shrugged and Tandy said, "don't you want to ask Bucky about this? What are you going to tell Luke and Scarlet?" Deacon moved his hand closer to Rayna's under the table to support her decision and she smiled at him and replied to Tandy, "well I'll call Bucky right now and you said you would help me with the business right?" Tandy nodded and Rayna looked at the girls, "do y'all mind watching TV for a little bit? This will bore you." Maddie got up and threw hers and Daphne's containers of food out, "let's go Daph, they'll join us when they're done." The girls went to the other room and Rayna looked back at Tandy and held Deacon's hand for this next part, "I think Luke just wanted me there cuz he wanted to get in my pants." Deacon's eyes widened and Tandy tried to hold back from laughing. He said, "what?" Rayna looked back at him, "yeah he kissed me and said he'd loveee to see me on tour." She could see that he was jealous about that and she smiled at him reassuringly and leaned in to whisper in his ear, "I never did this to him." She pulled back and trailed her hand up his thigh and rubbed him lightly and then pulled back. His eyes darkened and he wanted to kiss her and take her away. She smiled at him innocently and then Tandy fake coughed. "Can y'all keep this in the bedroom please?" Rayna shrugged at her sister, "sorry." Deacon chuckled. Tandy shook her head and rolled her eyes, "what about your agree-" Rayna cut her off, "okayyyy we don't need to talk about this." Deacon let his hand slide up Rayna's thigh and squeezed her upper thigh. Rayna looked at him with a warning tone and decided to embarrass him a little, "don't start anythin' we can't finish." Tandy's eyes widened, "oh my gosh, y'all need to stop." Deacon was embarrassed and looked down but kept his hand where it was. Rayna chuckled and kissed his cheek, "yeah, listen to Tandy." Deacon looked up at Rayna and chuckled, "maybe you should practice what you preach. You started it." Rayna blushed a little and looked at Tandy. Tandy was almost speechless, "y'all are worse than teenagers, I swear. You put them to shame. Haven't you ever heard keep your hands to yourselves?" Rayna and Deacon laughed and Tandy joined them. Deacon looked at Tandy, "I don't think your sister has." Rayna slapped his arm but they all kept laughing. Maddie walked in, "what's so funny?" Deacon and Rayna pulled their hands away and Deacon looked at Rayna, "yeah what's so funny Ray?" Rayna was at a loss of words and tried to take the safe route and change the subject, "nothing honey, it's grown up stuff. Did you want some popcorn?" Maddie nodded, "yeah that's what I came to get." Rayna sighed, happy that she hadn't asked more questions. Tandy said, "I'll make you some and bring it in there." Maddie nodded and as soon as she walked away Deacon and Tandy started laughing. Rayna looked at them, "that's not funny." Tandy said, "it was kind of funny. Good one Deacon!" She held her hand up and he high fived it; they were both still laughing. Rayna got up and got her phone to call Bucky. Deacon said, "we're only joking babe." Rayna said, "uhu, I'll just keep the agreement on longer." Tandy continued laughing but Deacon stopped. Tandy said, "you can always bribe a man with sex." Rayna laughed now but Deacon remained serious. Deacon looked Rayna up and down and said, "I think it goes both ways." Rayna felt his eyes on her and flushed a little, "I guess you'll have to try it some time." Deacon chuckled and kept that in mind. Tandy said, "when neither of the girls are home please." Rayna and Deacon chuckled at that and then Rayna called Bucky.

She told him that she didn't want to go on the tour but rather work at buying herself out of Edgehill. She said that she was only supposed to be on the tour for a few shows anyway and Bucky knew that. He was a little hesitant in the beginning but agreed when she kept talking to him about it. He told her she had to tell Scarlet and Luke and she agreed.  
She turned her attention back to Tandy and Deacon and said, "I'm staying here." They smiled both happy. Rayna then called Luke and put him on loud speaker.  
Luke drawled: hey darlin.  
Rayna covered the mic and mouthed 'told you' to Deacon and Tandy. They nodded and Deacon wasn't pleased.  
Rayna: hey, I need to talk to you. Do you have five minutes?  
Luke: of course I do, what do you wanna talk about?  
Rayna rolled her eyes wishing that he could be professional: I want to let you know that I won't be going on your tour I have talked to Bucky and he agrees.  
Luke's voice got cold: I think you're missing your shot after the accident and all.  
Rayna: I know exactly what I'm doing. It was nice singin on your tour but I'de rather be the big star.  
Luke: sorry I out shined you.  
Rayna: I don't think you did, but thank you and good night.  
Luke replied bitterly: good night and good luck.  
The three in the room knew that the luck he sent was not sincere. Deacon did not like how Luke talked to Rayna at all but he was relieved that he would never lay a hand on her again. Deacon said, "you were definitely the star. You closed the show!" Rayna smiled and pecked him, "thank babe." Tandy had made the popcorn in the time that Rayna was talking to Bucky and Luke and went to bring it to the girls, leaving Rayna and Deacon alone.  
Deacon kissed her again now that they were alone and she rapped her arms around his neck and he said agains her lips, between kisses, "I was thinking that after the girls go to bed, we could go to see the house. You know before we bring them there." Rayna just kept kissing him and he knew she agreed. She pulled back and smiled at him then took his hand and led him to the living room.

The girls were sitting on the floor with a blanket covering them and eating popcorn. The lights were off. Tandy sat in the armchair again and Rayna and Deacon took the couch. The girls were watching Tangled. Even though Maddie was thirteen it was still one of her favorites and it was the same for Daphne. It was something they both agreed on, fairy tails never got old. Rayna pulled a blanket over Deacon and herself and scooted close to him their sides touched. Deacon put his hand on her inner thigh and started making slow circles slowly inching upward. She didn't want to stop him so she bent her knees and lifted her feet so that they were on the couch. It was a way of shielding themselves in case one of the girls or Tandy turned around. Rayna placed her hand on his thigh but didn't do anything. He kept inching upward till he got to his desired destination. Rayna squeezed his thigh lightly, the fabric of her jeans was pressing into her and it felt so good. She shivered not able to hide what she was feeling anymore and her cheeks flushed as her temperature rose a little. Deacon was acting as if nothing was going on and continued to watch the movie. Rayna squeezed his thigh a little harder and sighed because she couldn't moan. She knew that the girls wouldn't look away from the movie and Tandy got up to go to the bathroom. Rayna rested her mouth on his shoulder and bit over the fabric softly as her breath hitched. His movements became quicker and he kept rubbing over her jeans, he was driving her crazy and she could feel the blood rushing to her abdomen and legs. Deacon felt her teeth scrape against his shirt and shoulder and stopped what he was doing. He knew that when she did that she was very turned on and he wanted her to feel good but his conscience stopped him because the girls were sitting right there and he knew that if they asked her something her voice would sound different and he didn't want them to wonder why. Rayna shivered again, this time from the lack of contact but she was glad that he was that considerate of the girls. He kept his hand on her upper inner thigh. Her hand loosened her hold on his thigh and she kissed his shoulder and smiled up at him. He looked down at her and smiled but mouthed 'sorry'. She whispered in his ear, "you are so considerate of the girls, thank you. I would have stopped you though." He was right her voice had changed even though she was just whispering it sounded like she was purring. She pulled back and sat up straight and saw Tandy come back and sit down. He lent over to Rayna and whispered in her ear, "I beg to differ, you wouldn't have stopped me. You were pretty close." Rayna whispered in his ear again, "I still am." He was the one to sigh this time because he too couldn't moan. She crossed her legs and his hand was in between her legs almost touching her there. He could feel the heat radiating from her skin through her jeans and he kept his hand there just to tease her. Rayna rested her head against the back of the couch and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths. She knew he was keeping his hand there, not touching her, on purpose but she wasn't going to move it. Her breathing became normal again. Before he removed his hand, he brushed her lightly and then rested his hand on her hand that was on his thigh. She shivered when he touched her again and he squeezed her hand, intertwining their fingers.

They all watched the movie and by the end Daphne had fallen asleep and Maddie was about to. It was a school night. Rayna got up and walked over to the girls she helped Maddie up and took her to her room. Maddie got in bed and fell asleep. Rayna walked in the hall and closed the door behind her. She stopped when she saw Deacon carrying Daphne to her room and humming softly. He seemed so captivated by the little girl and she was sleeping peacefully. This was the way she had always pictured him in her dreams. Rayna followed him silently and watched as he tucked Daphne in and kissed her on the forehead. He turned around and saw Rayna was smiling at the door. He walked up to her and rubbed his hands up and down her arms. She stepped back and closed Daphne's door too. She hugged Deacon, "you're great at this family and kid thing." Deacon chuckled and kissed her head, "thank you." She looked up at him and kissed him and then they walked to the kitchen again.  
Tandy was drinking wine, forgetting that Deacon shouldn't be near alcohol, and asked Rayna if she wanted some. Rayna looked towards Deacon and then back at Tandy, "no thank you. We were heading out to see the house actually." Tandy realized and looked at Deacon, "I-I'm sorry." Rayna saw that Deacon was pretty calm but she was never 100% sure. Deacon said, "it's okay." He didn't feel the urge to drink, probably because Rayna was there, but he was glad that she seemed confident that he wouldn't. It put pressure on him everyday knowing about his problem but he was working hard for Rayna and Maddie. Rayna said, "I'll be right back I need to grab something." She went to her room and got the old key she had kept of the house, put it in her back pocket, and walked back into the kitchen. She slipped her hand in Deacon's, "ready?" He looked down at her, "mhm." Rayna turned to Tandy, "I'll be back in a bit. Call me if something happens." Tandy nodded, "ok, be good!" Rayna and Deacon chuckled and walked to Deacon's new car.


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you to everyone who reads this story it means a lot to me. Please please review if you have any thoughts about anything. The feedback really helps :) **

**Previously:**

**She went to her room and got the old key she had kept of the house, put it in her back pocket, and walked back into the kitchen. She slipped her hand in Deacon's, "ready?" He looked down at her, "mhm." Rayna turned to Tandy, "I'll be back in a bit. Call me if something happens." Tandy nodded, "ok, be good!" Rayna and Deacon chuckled and walked to Deacon's new car.**

**Present: **

They hadn't been in a car together yet since the accident and when they got in the car they realized that. Deacon was going to drive so he looked at her to make sure she was ok and she smiled reassuringly, she trusted him and they wouldn't be fighting this time. He started the car and started driving to their destination. It was about twenty five minutes away because he knew that neither of them wanted to live in the buzz of the city back then. Rayna put the radio on and turned the volume low. She caught the time it was 9:45. They traveled down the familiar road they usually sped on back then because they were going home to the other. Today was different, Deacon drove slowly, both recalling times long ago. He pulled up to the house and they were both surprised to see the 'for sale' sign but a little relieved knowing they wouldn't disturb anyone. He turned the car off and they just looked at the house.  
This was where they had come home to. This had truly been their home. It had three rooms because they thought their kids would sleep in the other two. A big living room and kitchen where they thought they would play and spend time in with them. This was where they had planned their whole future in the late hours of the night. Looking at the house now, felt as if they were dreaming. They had both left a piece of their hearts there and they had both avoided going there or even near the area. Rayna searched for Deacon's hand in the dark and held it tightly. They both felt emotional. They looked at each other and smiled softly. Rayna got out of the car and walked to the long front porch. She ran her hand on the wall of the house until she got to the door. She signaled for Deacon to join her. He walked up to her and she pulled out the key. He was surprised. She would never open the door because it wasn't theirs but she slipped the key in and it still fit. She let out a laugh and looked up at Deacon. He chuckled and pulled the key out and put it in her back pocket. She looked out at the view and he rapped his arms around her from behind looking out with her even though it was dark and they couldn't see much of anything.  
"I brought something too." He whispered. She looked up at him her eyes curious. He pulled the ring out of his back pocket and she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She let out a shaky breath and looked down at the ring. She took it from him and ran her fingers over the light engraving of the design. He took it back and slipped it on her right ring finger. It was there to show their bond and no one had ever seen that ring on her left finger except the two of them that night long long ago. She turned around and hugged him resting her head on his shoulder. They both closed their eyes they didn't know what to say but didn't feel the urge to say anything. This was the place where they had been themselves and where their love had been expressed freely in every corner of the house. It was kind of amazing how they had had the same address for a little bit and standing there they both wanted that again. He rocked them from side to side slowly and they swayed with the breeze. She buried her head in his neck and inhaled his scent, never wanting to live without it on her clothes, in her home, in her bed, or on her skin. Deacon put a hand in her hair and pulled her closer, wanting to feel her against him. She sighed, licked her lips, and kissed his neck where her mouth rested. He felt the imprint of her warm damp lips and shivered. He wrapped his arms under her butt and lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist so that they were the same hight and they could kiss. Rayna ran her hands through his hair and he held her up. They kissed slowly at first, testing the other on who would give in first. They gave in at the same time and didn't pull back from the kiss till they needed air. Deacon pulled back first and she searched for his lips again. Then she pulled back and they smiled against each other's lips opening their eyes. There was pure love and a little bit of longing in their eyes. Deacon lifted her up higher and kissed all over her neck lightly. His lips felt so good on her and she never wanted this to end. Rayna tilted her head and when he got to her weak spot she moaned quietly. "Oh babe," she sighed and he pulled back. She looked down at him, kissed him, and then buried her face in his neck again, trying to control her body because she knew they couldn't finish this tonight. Rayna leaned down and kissed him again and then he put her down.  
Rayna said, "we should get back home, it's cold out here." Deacon nodded, took her hand, and they walked back to the car. He started the engine and started driving and Rayna took his hand in hers, "it was real good going back to see the house, I feel like I left the bad memories behind." Deacon glanced at her, "yeah," he whispered. They both felt the bad memories wash away somehow and felt like they could focus on the good things that had happened there. Rayna played with the ring on her right finger, it had always been her favorite ring and now she could wear it freely, not in secret how she had done sometimes, late at night when she was married to someone else.  
Deacon pulled up to Tandy's house and Rayna leaned towards him to kiss him goodnight. She looked back at the house and saw that all the lights were off and wanted to ask him if he wanted to stay but then she would have to explain why he was there to the girls and she didn't want Maddie to make any assumptions. Deacon saw that she was contemplating something, "what are you contemplating?" She looked back at him and smiled, "I was going to ask you to stay here." He smiled and kissed her, "I think it's better if I go home." Rayna nodded but had a sad look in her eyes, "yeah it's better and I'll see you tomorrow." He nodded, "I have an AA meeting at 11 but I'll come later so we can take the girls to the house?" "That sounds good. How is the program going?" He looked out the window, "it's going good." She said, "please look at me babe." He turned towards her with tears in his eyes. She knew that he had tried so hard to move past his addiction and he had done so well for thirteen years and now he had to start all over again because of her. She continued, "I'm so sorry, it's my fault that you have to go through all this again; but I believe in you and I think you should do this for yourself, because you will always have me and the girls. You are so strong babe and you need to be proud of what you have achieved." Deacon nodded, "I am doing it for myself this time." Rayna kissed him, "I'm proud of you because you wanted to start the program right away. You don't need me to help you anymore. You didn't need me to push you to want it." "Thank you Ray. You're right but I want you here to believe in me. I just need you to trust that I can do this by myself and I'm not trying to shut you out from my addiction but it's something I need to do by myself this time." Rayna nodded, "I'm here if you ever need me." Deacon smiled and kissed her, "trust me I need you." Rayna giggled and said between kisses, "mmm I need you too." He chuckled and pulled away, "I love you." Rayna smiled, "I love you too." She kissed him and left the car. He waited till she got inside and then drove home.  
Rayna lay in her bed and texted Deacon even though she knew he hated texting: good night babe, I'll see you tomorrow. To her shock he didn't call but replied through text: good night darlin. She smiled and turned her light off.

The next morning:  
Rayna gave Maddie and Daphne their breakfasts and she was making their lunch. "So after you finish your homework, Deacon and I will take you to the house in the picture that y'all wanted to see." The girls eyes lit up. Daphne exclaimed a yes! And Maddie and Rayna laughed. She took the girls to school and when she got back home Tandy was up and having coffee. Tandy said, "morning. How did it go last night?" Rayna smiled, "it went well." Tandy didn't want to ask anymore so she changed the subject, "if you want to buy yourself out of Edgehill you really need more artists. I know you're probably not going to like this idea but what do you think of Juliette?" Rayna was surprised she had never thought about her. Would it really be a bad idea to sign her? Tandy had a point she hates Jeff and although she is unstable she is a good singer. Rayna couldn't believe she was admitting this because she had hated her about a year ago but after they wrote Wrong Song, Rayna had grown to like her a little bit. "You're right, I don't really like the idea; but she is the only one who I have worked with and she has money so she could help." Tandy nodded, "think about it for a few days, it's an idea." Rayna got some coffee and Tandy spotted the ring, "is that THE ring?" Rayna said, "mhm yeah that the ring." Tandy's mouth fell open. Rayna smiled, "he gave it back to me last night." Tandy smiled, "it's your favorite ring." "Yes, it is."

Later that day:  
Maddie and Daphne were sitting at the kitchen table when the doorbell rang. Rayna was in the shower so Maddie got the door. It was Deacon.  
"Hey darlin."  
"Hey!" Maddie said excitedly, "come on in." They walked to the kitchen.  
"Deacon!" Daphne exclaimed.  
Deacon chuckled, "hey princess."  
She smiled and went back to doing her work.  
Maddie said, "mom is taking a shower so she'll be a while."  
Deacon chuckled, "yeah, she likes long showers."  
Maddie smiled at him. She realized that he knew Rayna so well. Even how long she took in the shower.  
Daphne asked Deacon, "do you like science?" Deacon nodded. "Great! Can you please help me? I need to memorize the water cycle and know the definitions." Deacon smiled, "sure. Can I see the book?" Daphne handed him the book and he helped her.  
Twenty minutes later Rayna was dressed and ready and walked downstairs. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Deacon helping Daphne do her homework. Again, the thought of him like this, stable and a family man, made her heart flutter. He had that little girl wrapped around his finger. Deacon looked up and smiled at her, "there you are!" He looked at what she was wearing, black jeans, boots, and a pale pink shirt which showed of her cleavage. He could see a bit of her bra from the way she was standing and quickly looked away. She knew he liked what she had picked out and she was glad, "here I am! How is the homework going." Maddie said, "I have one more math problem and then I'm done." Daphne said, "we'll be done in five minutes. I only have two more definitions to learn." Rayna smiled, "we'll go see the house when y'all are done." She walked over to Deacon and kissed his cheek and then sat down next to him. Deacon smiled at her and continued to help Daphne. When the girls were done they went upstairs to change, leaving Rayna and Deacon alone. He leaned towards her and kissed her. "This shirt you're wearing is kind of revealing." Rayna laughed and kissed him again running a hand through his hair. Then she pulled back, "you being all cute with the girls is kind of making me want you more." Deacon smiled, "oh really?" Rayna kissed him again, "mhm." Daphne walked in then and they pulled away. "I'm ready!" Rayna smiled, "great! Is your sister almost done?" Daphne nodded, "yeah. Here she comes." They heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Deacon said, "okay let's go!"  
When they were close Rayna said, "okay girls it's at the end of this road. Are y'all ready to see it?" The girls and nodded and said, "yeeeaahh!" Rayna and Deacon chuckled and then they were in front of the house. They all got out and Maddie and Daphne walked to the porch. Deacon put his arm around Rayna's shoulders and she wrapped her arm around his waist. The house looked different in the light of day. It seemed more alive. Maddie asked, "so how long did you live here for?" Rayna looked at Deacon and then back at Maddie, "for three years until I moved out to live with Teddy and then Deacon sold the house." Maddie nodded and asked, "so is this where I um." Rayna saw that she was struggling a bit so she answered, "yes honey, this is it." Maddie nodded and tried to peek in. Daphne was peeking too, "I want to go inside." Rayna said, "we can't, it's not ours." Daphne said, "now that you are back together do you want to live here again?" Rayna looked at Deacon and back at Daphne, "we haven't talked about that yet." Daphne looked a little disappointed. Rayna could see that Daphne really liked this place, even from the picture, she wanted to see it up close. Rayna ran her hand through Daphne's hair. They walked around the outside of the house and Deacon pointed to where everything was through the windows. "This is the kitchen." "This is the living room, with a nice fireplace." "These are two bedrooms and the master bedroom is over there." He went on till they had walked the whole perimeter. Maddie said, "it's really peaceful up here, it's inspiring." Rayna and Deacon still had their arms around each other and Deacon rubbed her shoulder and she did the same to his hip. "Yes it is very inspiring. We wrote a lot here," Deacon said. Maddie smiled at them and then her and Daphne looked at the backyard and the fishies in the lake. Deacon and Rayna stood back a bit looking at the girls pointing at the fish and giggling. Deacon said, "they are so perfect." Rayna looked up at him and kissed his cheek. He looked down at her, "you're perfect too." Rayna smiled and blushed a little. Then she whispered, "you know the girls are with Teddy next week so I was thinking that I could come over to your place and we could have dinner for two and kiss a little, or a lot, and see what happens." Deacon knew exactly what she meant, "that sounds perfect."

Thank you to swimlets3 and BreannaM13! Thank you for helping me haha and y'all need to update :)


	13. Chapter 13

I** know it has taken me a while I'm sorry y'all it's just that I had exams and I really wanted this chapter to be perfect! I'm sure this is what y'all have been waiting for ;) Thanks to all that are reviewing and reading it means so much! Keep your thoughts coming and this is for all my chatty ladies :) y'all know who you are! **

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters but this is what would happen if I did!

It had been a week since they had gone to see the house and the girls were going to Teddy's for the week. During the past week Deacon had gone over to the house and spent time with Rayna and the girls. They didn't have much alone time but they were hoping to get some this week. Everyday it got harder to keep the agreement because they would tease each other. They would wear each other's favorite clothes and perfumes so that they could see the longing in the other's eyes when they got near. It was a torturous game they played but as the saying goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder. So they stuck it out because the girls were in the house and Deacon went to sleep at his house for the night. However, Rayna would walk him to the door and open the door when he got there just so she could kiss him. It felt like they were sneaking around but neither of them wanted to kiss in front of the girls yet. Teddy would pick the girls up at around six and Rayna was supposed to be at Deacon's house by seven. When Teddy got there, she kissed the girls goodbye and ran upstairs to get ready.

She texted Deacon: I'm getting ready! I'll be there at seven. Is there a dress code for tonight? Is dinner going to be casual or candlelit?  
Deacon smiled when he saw her text: There is no specific dress code. You can wear nothing if you want. You'll have to wait and see for dinner.  
Rayna laughed and rolled her eyes at his reply and replied: I'll be dressed.  
Deacon smiled and said: not for long.

Rayna was getting exited so she stopped texting him and got in the shower. The faster she was done, the sooner she could see him. She left her hair to dry by itself because she knew that Deacon liked her natural curls the best. Trying to figure out what she was going to wear was going to be harder. She knew that he liked her in lighter colors so she went to that section of her closet. She looked through her clothes and found the shirt she was looking for. It was a tan v neck shirt that had a shimmer too it. It wasn't too revealing so she knew it would make him want to take it off. She found white tight pants that showed off her long slim legs. She got dressed and slipped on white boots with tan definitions which matched the shirt. She didn't bother wearing jewelry because it got in the way but she had the ring he gave back to her on. She applied minimal makeup because she knew that Deacon found her pretty without it and she didn't need to hide anything from him. She looked at the time, she had about ten minutes to get there. She grabbed her jacket and drove to his house.

She walked up to the porch and knocked on the door. Deacon opened the door and smiled when he saw her. The white pants made her legs look so long and he felt like taking her to the bedroom already but stopped himself. He was wearing a button down flannel shirt, jeans, and he hadn't shaven. She felt the urge to kiss him so she reached up to him and kissed him, running a hand through his hair. He kissed her back and then pulled back, "hey." She smiled, "hi." He moved out of the way to let her in.

She then noticed that there were no lights on in the house and that Deacon had set up the coffee table in the living room beautifully. He had lit a candle and put it in the middle of the table and there was apple cider in champagne glasses. He had put two pillows on the floor so that they could sit on those and he had lit the fire. It felt so cozy. She turned to him again, "babe, this is so romantic. It's beautiful." He smiled and kissed her, then pulled back and went to get the food. She slipped off her shoes and sat down on one of the pillows.

Deacon came back with two plates of spaghetti and sat down across from her. She smiled at him, she didn't know what to say. This was so perfect she couldn't think of anything to say. He smiled back at her and took a bite of his spaghetti. She did the same and then laughed, "you actually took the time to make these properly? Since when did you upgrade from spaghetti o's?" He chuckled, "since tonight." She laughed and took another bite. "You never bothered to do that before. This is really good." He laughed and said, "thank you." She reached for her glass and held it up to him and he did the same. "To us," they said in unison. They both chuckled at that because they had had dinners like this when they were younger and that had always been their toast, except back then it was actual wine. They kept eating till they were almost done and then Deacon said, "I was thinking to start a solo career." Rayna was a little shocked but glad, "wow, that's a really big decision. Are you sure you're ready for that?" Deacon nodded, "yeah I've thought about it for a while and I want to." Rayna smiled, "you know I've been looking for artists for Highway 65..." She paused, "maybe you could join?" Deacon smiled, "I'll think about it." Rayna was a little confused he could have just said yes. She decided to ignore it for now. Deacon had said that because it was a great offer but he would still be behind Rayna Jaymes and that was okay with him but he wanted to try and be her equal. She smiled, she was going to give him all the time he needed. Rayna reached out and took his hand in hers, "okay, take all the time you need but just know that the offer is there. I'm going to support you with this." Deacon smiled and pulled her hand to his lips, "thanks Ray." Rayna smiled back and moved her hand to his cheek, brushing her fingertips over his stubble.

He turned his face towards her hand and started kissing her palm. Then he kissed the inside of her wrist and kept leaving feather like kisses on her inner arm. She just looked at him loving the feel of his tender kisses on her skin. He looked up at her and she noticed the change of color in his eyes. The light of the candle reflected even more in his eyes now that they were darker. She mirrored his expression and blew out the candle. The only light came from the fire. She crawled to his side of the table and kissed his cheek one of her hands in his hair and the other on his neck. She moved her kisses towards his lips and when she reached them, they kissed slowly. Rayna licked his lips wanting more and he obliged. She moved so she was straddling him and pulled back to whisper, "screw the agreement. I need you babe." He smiled against her lips, "I was hoping you'd say that." He kissed her more urgently. Rayna moved her hands to the buttons on his shirt and unbuttoned the first one. Her lips followed her hands kissing his exposed chest. She threw the shirt on the couch and he kissed her jaw and she let her head fall back so he could kiss her neck. He kept going till he got to her shirt. He pulled it up and off of her and pushed her down on the carpet. The skin to skin contact made both of them shiver. They both wanted and needed the other. Deacon kissed her, pulled back, smiled at her and unclasped her bra. He slipped it off of her kissing down her right arm and up her left. He sat on his knees grabbed a pillow and put in under her head. She pulled him closer so that she could kiss him and feel his chest against hers. They both moaned into the kiss and then Deacon pulled back for air. He moved his lips to her chest and kissed over her breasts lightly. She closed her eyes and moaned she was so ready for him but didn't want to rush this. He kissed down her stomach and when he got to her pants he unbuttoned them and slipped them off her legs, his fingers skimming the outside of her thighs. He smiled down at her and she smiled back reaching out to him so she could pull him closer. He entwined her fingers with his and held her hands down while kissing her. Rayna pushed herself up and turned over so she was on top. She left his lips and kissed her way down to his pants. She unbuttoned his jeans and smiled down at him her eyes darker when she saw that he was ready too. She slipped them off of him and leaned down to kiss him and he turned her over again so he was on top. She smiled against his lips and his hands traveled up her legs and he brushed her over her panties and she squirmed and moaned against his mouth. He kept teasing her and she pulled back to speak raggedly, "please don't tease babe." He took this as encouragement and he slipped off the last item of clothing she was wearing and went back to doing what he was doing. He kissed her neck and Rayna started squirmed while trying to control her breathing. She dug her nails into his back lightly and she moved one hand to his chest and started moving it downward and he caught her drift so he stopped what he was doing so he could stop her. She opened her eyes questioning him and he just kissed her instead if answering. Her hands slipped his boxers off and he entered her. She smiled against his lips. They went at their own established slow pace and it was agonizing but good.

When they finished it was like the butterflies that had been living in their stomachs had finally flown away. Rayna's head was tucked into Deacon's neck and he sat up with her. He lifted her up and she gasped. He chuckled and carried her to the bedroom. He sat her down on the bed and Rayna smiled up at him. She looked so beautiful. He placed his hands on her cheeks and kissed her. He pulled back and walked to his drawers. He threw her a pair of his boxers and one of his shirts and she giggled. He slipped his own pair of boxers on and climbed into bed. Rayna slipped his clothes on the smell of Deacon that was now embedded on her skin was also on his clothes. She felt engulfed and enclosed safely in his bubble. She turned around and smiled at him as she got under the covers. They lay there facing each other with smiles on their faces. Rayna moved closer to him entwining her legs with his. She rapped her arm around his waist and placed her head between his pillow and his neck so that she could be very close to him. She felt his arms wrap around her waist and she felt so at peace and so happy. "You are so good babe," she whispered. Deacon chuckled, "so the agreement is off?" Rayna smiled against his neck, "mhm." She pulled back to kiss him and talked between kisses, "I missed not having you in my bed." He smiled, "me too." Rayna whispered, "I'm tired."

He kissed her one more time and turned on his back so she was nestled up on his side and she rested her head on his shoulder and she slung one of her legs over his so that it was in between his. Rayna whispered, "I think we need to talk about where this is going." Deacon slipped his hand under her shirt so that it was on her back. "I don't know Ray. Where do you want it to go?" She exhaled, "mmm well I mean the next thing to do would be move in together but I don't want to rush into anything." Deacon smiled against her hair, "I agree there is no need to rush. The girls really liked that old house." Rayna ran her hand over his chest, "they thought it was so cute. That house means so much babe. So much happened there for us. What are you getting at, bringing the house up and all?" Deacon shrugged, "I don't know it felt right to be there with them. We had planned our whole future in that house." Rayna smiled, "yeah, so are you saying you want to buy it back?" Deacon shrugged again, "I don't know would it be a bad thing." Rayna smiled and rested her hand on her hand so she could look down at him, "no, it's not a bad thing but it's just that that was our place, just ours, and then you relapsed there." Deacon sighed, "I know I did babe but I like the location, as Maddie said, 'it's inspirational'." Rayna smiled and kissed him, "yeah it was veryyy inspirational in more way than one." Deacon chuckled remembering when they had gotten the house and christened every room because it was a new and different place. Rayna went on, "maybe we could buy the property, again, but break down the house and build a new one?" Deacon smiled, "that sounds really good." Rayna smiled, she had been thinking about doing that since she had seen that old picture of the house with Deacon. She also knew that building a house would take a long time so she knew that they could work on their relationship more during that time. She rested her head back on his shoulder and moved her head closer so she could kiss his neck, "I love you so much." Deacon ran his hand up and down her back, "I love you too." Rayna moved even closer to him trying to get warm and comfortable, she was basically laying on top of him. "Are you comfortable Ray?" He said jokingly. Rayna laughed against his neck and tightened her hold around him and joked back, "now I am, can you breathe?" Deacon laughed too and kept joking, "I'm glad you are, and no I can't breath you're heavy." She gasped and loosened her hold on him; she was starting to move away when he pulled her back and she laughed, "I thought you said I was heavy." Deacon laughed too and kissed her forehead. He wrapped his arms around her waist again and she kissed his jaw softly running her lips against his stubble. She layed her head back down on his shoulder and they lay awake for a while longer reveling in the warmth. When sleep got the best of them they let themselves slip away peacefully.

P.S.: thank you to swimlets3 (feel better hun!) and BrianaM13!


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